German Autumn

"German Autumn is a very important book and it is a very good thing that an English language version is becoming available for Americans. We need this book. "-Mark Kurlansky, from the Foreword "German Autumn is one of the best collections ever written about the aftermath of war. It is on par with John Reed's classic articles from the Soviet Union as well as with Edgar Snow's articles about the great political revolution in China. Stig Dagerman depicts the tragic realities of post-World War II Germany with astonishing clarity and artistic skillfulness. He provides the reader with a profound insight, which ultimately is the story of every war. To anyone interested in understanding what great journalism means, German Autumn is indispensable. It should be compulsory reading for all young people who might consider becoming a journalist, and it is as alive as it was when first published in 1947. Read it."-Henning Mankell "Dagerman wrote with beautiful objectivity. Instead of emotive phrases, he uses a choice of facts, like bricks, to construct an emotion."-Graham Greene

Stig Dagerman (1923-1954) was regarded as the most talented young writer of the Swedish postwar generation. By age twenty-six he had published four novels, a collection of short stories, and four full-length plays, in addition to German Autumn. Robin Fulton Macpherson is a Scottish poet and translator who has lived and worked in Norway since 1973. Mark Kurlansky is a New York Times best-selling author of many books, including Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World and Salt: A World History.

Foreword: Pitiless Fall Mark Kurlansky Introduction Robin Fulton Macpherson 1. German Autumn 2. Ruins 3. Bombed Cemetery 4. Poor Man's Cake 5. The Art of Sinking 6. The Unwelcome 7. The Rivals 8. Lost Generation 9. The Course of Justice 10. Cold Day in Munich 11. Through the Forest of the Hanged Boys 12. Return to Hamburg 13. Literature and Suffering