{"product_id":"we-germans-9780316429801","title":"We Germans","description":"\u003cb\u003eA letter from a German soldier to his grandson recounts the terrors of war on the Eastern Front, and a postwar ordinary life in search of atonement, in this \"raw, visceral, and propulsive\" novel (\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eEditors' Choice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the throes of the Second World War, young Meissner, a college student with dreams of becoming a scientist, is drafted into the German army and sent to the Eastern Front. But soon his regiment collapses in the face of the onslaught of the Red Army, hell-bent on revenge in its race to Berlin. Many decades later, now an old man reckoning with his past, Meissner pens a letter to his grandson explaining his actions, his guilt as a Nazi participator, and the difficulty of life after war. Found among his effects after his death, the letter is at once a thrilling story of adventure and a questing rumination on the moral ambiguity of war. In his years spent fighting the Russians and attempting afterward to survive the Gulag, Meissner recounts a life lived in perseverance and atonement. Wracked with shame--both for himself and for Germany--the grandfather explains his dark rationale, exults in the courage of others, and blurs the boundaries of right and wrong. \u003ci\u003eWe Germans\u003c\/i\u003e complicates our most steadfast beliefs and seeks to account for the complicity of an entire country in the perpetration of heinous acts. In this breathless and page-turning story, Alexander Starritt also presents us with a deft exploration of the moral contradictions inherent in saving one's own life at the cost of the lives of others and asks whether we can ever truly atone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Little Brown and Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780316429801\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.90d","brand":"Alexander Starritt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36636265447580,"sku":"9780316429801","price":28.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_1bfdab99-6afb-4cec-bcc1-14e58a25f06b.jpg?v=1603841423","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/we-germans-9780316429801","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}