The Silences of Hammerstein

"The Silences of Hammerstein", the latest work from one of Germany's most significant contemporary authors, engages readers with a blend of documentary, collage, narration, and fictional interviews. The gripping plot revolves around the experiences of real-life German General Kurt von Hammerstein and his wife and children. A member of an old military family, a brilliant staff officer, and the last commander of the German army before Hitler seized power, Hammerstein, who died in 1943 before Hitler's defeat, was nevertheless an idiosyncratic character. Too old to be a resister, he retained an independence of mind that was shared by his children: three of his daughters joined the Communist Party, and two of his sons risked their lives in the July 1944 plot against Hitler and were subsequently on the run until the end of the war. Hammerstein never criticized his children for their activities, and he maintained contacts with the Communists himself and foresaw the disastrous end of Hitler's dictatorship. In "The Silences of Hammerstein", Hans Magnus Enzensberger offers a brilliant and unorthodox account of the military milieu whose acquiescence to Nazism consolidated Hitler's power - and of the heroic few who refused to share in the spoils.

ISBN 1906497222   Pages 402 ISBN13 9781906497224 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Seagull Books London Ltd   Weight (grammes) 620 Imprint Seagull Books London Ltd   Published in Greenford Format Hardback   Series title The German List Publication date 01 Oct 2009   Height (mm) 215 Translator Martin Chalmers   Width (mm) 136 DEWEY 355.331092   Spine width (mm) 43 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level General

		A difficult day		1
		The exemplary career of a cadet		6
		A very ancient family and a suitable marriage		8
		The sinister general		14
		A couple of anecdotes		18
		A posthumous conversation with Kurt von Hammerstein (I)		23
		First gloss. The horrors of the Weimar Republic		30
		A posthumous conversation with Kurt von Schleicher		36
		Second gloss. A tangle of manoeuvres and intrigues		49
		Difficult times		51
		Three daughters		63
		Official duties		79
		Cover-up		87
		A strange pilgrimage		94
		A veteran's story		100
		Herr von Ranke's adventure		103
		Entrance of a lady from Bohemia		110
		A posthumous conversation with Ruth von Mayenburg (I)		114
		Last-minute efforts		116
		Third gloss. On discord		124
		The invisible war		129
		A dinner with Hitler		133
		Attendance list of 3 February 1933		135
		Moscow is listening in		137
		A posthumous conversation with Kurt von Hammerstein (II)		144
		Fait accompli		147
		Hindenburg sends his regards		154
		A posthumous conversation with Kurt von Hammerstein (III)		155
		A posthumous conversation with Werner Scholem		161
		More...

"An astonishing story of betrayal and human decency, about the possibilities of resistance of the most various kinds.... A book without heroes but with heroic moments and small gestures of resistance.... An unbelievably thrilling book." - Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung "The book is impossible to put down." - Frankfurter Rundschau "Enzensberger has written an unusually exciting book, one in which the age of extremes is condensed in a quite surprising way." - Die Zeit"

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