Wolfram: The Boy Who Went to War - Softcover

Giles Milton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340840838 ISBN 13: 9780340840832

Publisher: Hodder, 2011

Synopsis

The Aïchele family were decent, cultured, peace-loving Germans trying their hardest not to get swept up in the madness of Hitler's Third Reich. But by the time war came, for civilians on all sides, there was nowhere left to hide.

The conflict took Wolfram, the family's gentle, 18-year-old son, to the Russian Front and the Normandy beaches. It also engulfed the town of his childhood, obliterating its inhabitants in a devastating firestorm.

Wolframis a powerful story of human survival. It is testimony to the fact that even in the darkest times there remains a spark of humanity that can never be totally extinguished.

About this title

About the Author:

Giles Milton is a writer and historian. He is the bestselling author ofNathaniel's Nutmeg,Big Chief Elizabeth,The Riddle and the Knight,White Gold,Samurai William,Paradise Lostand, most recently,Wolfram. He has also written two novels and two children's books, one of them illustrated by his wife Alexandra. He lives in South London.

Review:

'a valuable record of what it was like to be sucked into war, and a vivid evocation of the fear and bewilderment of living in the Third Reich.' * The Guardian * 'affectionate account' * Times Literary Supplement * 'Nazi Germany becomes three-dimensional in Giles Milton's touching study of a boy from a decent family which practised its own form of passive resistance.' * Sunday Telegraph * '. . . the story of the Aichele family reveals an undercurrent of passive resistance that existed among ordinary Germans. . . . In considering what Germans went through during the war, Milton's book shows that our understanding should not be so clear cut. . . . Milton's close analysis of the experiences of Germans demonstrates that they too could be victims of the war.' * Spectator * 'idiosyncratic and utterly fascinating' * Mail on Sunday * 'Milton's writing, too, is first-rate. Engaging, poignant and vivid, he wrings just the right amount of pathos from his story, and shifts seamlessly between the varying "voices" of his narrative. . . . a very valid and interesting book' * BBC History Magazine * 'Giles Milton looks deeper into family history with Wolfram, the story of his father-in-law's childhood under the Third Reich.' * Hobart Mercury * 'Milton's book is no apology for the Third Reich - rather it is the very human, horrifying story of an ordinary German boy and his family of free-thinking artists, none of whom supported Hitler's politics and all of whom suffered great hardships.' * Saga * 'a delight to read.' * www.thebookbag.co.uk * 'Besides being moving and readable, Milton's social history provides a sympathetic counterbalance to the idea that all wartime Germans were "Hitler's willing executioners".' * Mail on Sunday * 'as a portrait of how these civilised individuals were able to survive, this is invaluable.' * Daily Express * Engrossing . . . Milton's book celebrates the heroism of individuals who put lives before ideologies * Independent * 'a remarkable narrative of [Wolfram] Aichele's life during the Nazi regime, written by his son-in-law Giles Milton.' * Irish Times * 'Giles Milton is one of our most engaging writers of non-fiction. In Wolfram, he writes with deceptive simplicity, matching his effortless style with a fascinating subject to create a page-turning and thought-provoking book.' * Victoria Hislop * 'a compelling account of 20th-century darkness.' * Sun Herald * 'a truly remarkable story . . . a tour de force.' * Miranda Seymour * 'idiosyncratic and utterly fascinating' * Mail on Sunday * 'As an Englishman writing about a German destiny for a non-German public, Milton avoids the pitfalls. Instead he renders a service to his father-in-law's generation by reminding readers about the sheer physical, mental and spiritual effect it took to stay true to oneself in a vicious regime.' * The Times *

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0340840838
• ISBN 13: 9780340840832
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352