West Germany - (German History in Focus) by Julia Sneeringer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Julia Sneeringer's book provides a concise overview of developments in the Federal Republic of Germany from the end of the Second World War and Germany's division, to the unification of East and West Germany in 1990. Within the framework of key political and economic moments, it illuminates how West Germans experienced social, economic, and cultural change across four decades.

Chronologically structured and supplemented with timelines, each chapter in the book presents the major themes, events and developments occurring during the period. A focused bibliography is also included to offer guidance on further reading. Among the notable topics covered are:

- The redefining of German identity after Nazism
- Democratization
- The explosion of consumer culture
- The protest movements of 1968
- Changing gender and sexual roles
- Immigration and multiculturalism
- Pop culture
- Environmentalism
- Terrorism
- The return of the right in politics

West Germany in Focusis a peerless introduction to West Germany for anyone looking to understand the complexities of German history since 1945.

Review Quotes

An illuminating introduction to the Bonn Republic. Incorporating the latest insights from cultural and social history, Sneeringer explains not just how West Germany succeeded in producing prosperity and stability for its residents, but also how processes of democratization and liberalization generated their own challenges.
Lauren Stokes, Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University, USA

Julia Sneeringer offers an accessible and highly engaging history of West Germany from Allied occupation to unification with East Germany. By highlighting social and cultural change across the decades, Sneeringer demonstrates how the seemingly stolid Federal Republic of Germany was in fact a society of contradiction and dramatic transformation.
Maria D. Mitchell, Professor of History, Franklin & Franklin College, USA

This lucid and well-organized study should find a place on every reading list in modern central European history. Indispensable for students and scholars alike.
Timothy Scott Brown, Professor of History, Northeastern University, USA

About the Author

Julia Sneeringer is Associate Professor of History at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA. She is the author of A Social History of Early Rock 'n' Roll in Germany (Bloomsbury, 2018) and Winning Women's Votes: Propaganda and Politics in Weimar Germany (2002).