"Out of the Darkness: The Germans from 1942 to the Present" Book Talk with Frank Trentmann

Buffett Book Talk

Germany today is undergoing a crisis of identity. The Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 prompted Chancellor Olaf Scholz to announce a “Zeitenwende,” an era of change, but Germany’s place in the world remains unclear.

Once lauded as a success story, Germany's reckoning with its violent past has come under critical scrutiny and been found wanting. The "welcome culture" during the refugee crisis of 2015 has given way to renewed calls that the "boat is full." Populism is on the rise, and not only in the former socialist East.

A new book, Out of the Darkness, puts these current developments in historical perspective. At this Buffett Book Talk, Professor Lauren Stokes and its author, Professor Frank Trentmann, convened for a discussion about Germany, past and present. Throughout the book, Trentmann seeks to answer a central question: How have the Germans changed since 1942, why, and how much? And who are they now? 

This event was hosted by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and co-sponsored by the Department of German and the Department of History at Northwestern University.