Tobias Buck – författare

'[A] gripping and fascinating book' JAMES HOLLAND, DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5* review'A brilliant book . . . timely . . . gripping' RACHEL COOKE, OBSERVER'A thrilling read ' PHILIPPE SANDS, author of EAST WEST STREET***On 17 October 2019, in Hamburg's imposing criminal justice building, a trial laden with extraordinary historical weight begins to unfold. Bruno Dey stands accused of being involved in a crime committed over seven decades ago: the murder of at least 5,230 inmates at Stutthof, the Nazi concentration camp in present-day Poland. Only seventeen at the time, Dey was a member of the SS unit responsible for administering the camp. Though he concedes to his role as a guard, he adamantly denies responsibility for the killings. Dey's trial comes at a poignant moment. As the last members of the war generation - both victims and perpetrators - disappear, so does their first-hand knowledge of the Holocaust's horrors. Beyond its immediate legal implications, the trial stirs profound questions that resonate not only within the realms of German history, politics and collective memory but also within the author's own family. Tobias Buck revisits the silence that surrounds his family's experience during the Nazi period - and his German grandfather's role and responsibility. Through the lens of this riveting courtroom drama, Final Verdict explores the trial's broader significance, both on a political and personal level, and invites us to grapple with the question of whether it is right to prosecute Bruno Dey more than seven decades after he stood guard at Stutthof, and, perhaps more importantly, what we might have done in his place.

'[A] gripping and fascinating book' JAMES HOLLAND, DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5* review'A brilliant book . . . timely . . . gripping' RACHEL COOKE, OBSERVER'A thrilling read ' PHILIPPE SANDS, author of EAST WEST STREET***On 17 October 2019, in Hamburg's imposing criminal justice building, a trial laden with extraordinary historical weight begins to unfold. Bruno Dey stands accused of being involved in a crime committed over seven decades ago: the murder of at least 5,230 inmates at Stutthof, the Nazi concentration camp in present-day Poland. Only seventeen at the time, Dey was a member of the SS unit responsible for administering the camp. Though he concedes to his role as a guard, he adamantly denies responsibility for the killings. Dey's trial comes at a poignant moment. As the last members of the war generation - both victims and perpetrators - disappear, so does their first-hand knowledge of the Holocaust's horrors. Beyond its immediate legal implications, the trial stirs profound questions that resonate not only within the realms of German history, politics and collective memory but also within the author's own family. Tobias Buck revisits the silence that surrounds his family's experience during the Nazi period - and his German grandfather's role and responsibility. Through the lens of this riveting courtroom drama, Final Verdict explores the trial's broader significance, both on a political and personal level, and invites us to grapple with the question of whether it is right to prosecute Bruno Dey more than seven decades after he stood guard at Stutthof, and, perhaps more importantly, what we might have done in his place.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWNLONGLISTED FOR THE WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE'A masterly account' THE TIMES'A brilliant book' OBSERVER'Excellent . . . a timely, wise and fair-minded meditation on a singular crime' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT'A thrilling read ' PHILIPPE SANDS'[A] gripping and fascinating book' JAMES HOLLAND, TELEGRAPH 5* reviewOctober 2019, Hamburg: A trial laden with extraordinary historical weight begins to unfold. Charged with the murder of at least 5,230 inmates at the Stutthof concentration camp over seventy years ago, Bruno Dey admits his role as a guard but denies responsibility for the killings. Occurring as the last witnesses of the Holocaust disappear, this gripping trial raises profound questions about German history, politics, collective memory and personal accountability. Reflecting on his own family's silence about their Nazi-era experiences, Tobias Buck uses this courtroom drama to explore the broader significance of prosecuting Dey so many decades later and to consider what choices we might have made in his position.

Spain is facing its biggest crisis since Franco - but what lead to this moment and what could it mean for Britain and the rest of Europe?

Tobias Buck arrived in Madrid in December 2012, in time to celebrate the bleakest Christmas the city had seen in a generation. Capital and country were reeling from a series of economic shocks that had brought Spain to the brink of ruin. The housing boom had dramatically turned to bust, a large chunk of the nation's banking system was in state hands, businesses were closing across the country, debt was spiralling out of control and unemployment levels had reached a record high.AFTER THE FALL presents a rich and vivid portrait of contemporary Spain at a critical moment in the country's history. The book tells the story of Spain's long boom and sudden bust, the brutal economic crisis that followed, and the political and social aftershocks that reverberate to this day. It explores the origins of the separatist movement in Catalonia, and its bitter clash with the Spanish government that culminated in a failed secession referendum and a divisive declaration of independence. It looks at the legacy of the Civil War and Franco dictatorship, and the continuing struggle over historical memory in Spain today.Based on five years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, AFTER THE FALL takes the reader from the offices of power in Madrid and Barcelona to the villages of the Basque country, still haunted by the memory of political violence, and to the towns of Andalusia, where an entire generation has seen its economic hopes shattered. It describes how the country has been changed by the experience of migration, and why - after decades at the margins - the far-right eventually made a return to Spanish politics. For all the problems and challenges facing Spain today, we see that amid the ruins of the crisis, the search for a new Spanish model is already underway.