After the Reich: From the Liberation of Vienna to the Berlin Airlift

After the Reich: From the Liberation of Vienna to the Berlin Airlift. Giles MacDonogh. John Murray. [pounds sterling]25.00. xxi + 618 pages. ISBN 978-0-7195-6770-4. Mr MacDonogh is concerned with the plight of Germans and Austrians in the wake of Hitler's defeat. His focus is on everyday life and he divides his coverage into four parts: the weeks after fighting ceased; the daily life of the survivors; the vexed and complicated issue of 'crime and punishment'; and a survey of the political developments from Potsdam to the establishment of the two German republics.

He is highly critical of many military officials in the various zones for allowing violence against innocent German civilians by those hitherto oppressed by the Nazis. The book may be called 'pro-German' without being 'pro-Nazi'. The picture he paints is a depressing, and in some ways horrifying, one and he is fairly free with his judgements. It is also a complicated picture and the treatment is, as he admits, not full: the French zone is far less fully treated. However, by concentrating on daily lives Mr MacDonogh has given readers the history of an era all too often ignored. (T.B.)

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