On The Natural History Of Destruction by W.G. Sebald (English) Paperback Book

The Nile on eBay   On The Natural History Of Destruction by W.G. Sebald, Anthea Bell

In the last years of World War II, a million tons of bombs were dropped by the Allies on one hundred and thirty-one German towns and cities. This title explores German writers' strange silence about a moment of mass destruction.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

W. G. Sebald has become one of the most admired European writersIn the last years of World War II, the Allies dropped a million tons of bombs on Germany. Yet the German people have been silent about the resulting devastation and loss of life, failing to recognise the terrible shadow that destruction from the air cast over their land. Here W. G. Sebald, one of the most brilliant writers of the twentieth century, asks why it is we turn our backs on the horrors of war, and, in addressing our response to the past, bravely offers insights into how we live now.

Notes

One of the greatest writers of the 20th century asks why it is we turn our backs on the horrors of war. "It absorbs and horrifies and illuminates" Scotsman

Author Biography

W. G. Sebald was born in Wertach im Allg u, Germany, in 1944 and died in December 2001. He studied German language and literature in Freiburg, Switzerland and Manchester. In 1966 he took up a position as an assistant lecturer at the University of Manchester and settled permanently in England in 1970. He was Professor of European Literature at the University of East Anglia and is the author of The Emigrants, The Rings of Saturn, Vertigo, Austerlitz, After Nature, On the Natural History of Destruction, Unrecounted, Campo Santo, A Place in the Country and a selection of poetry, Across the Land and the Water.

Kirkus UK Review

In the wake of the Second World War few German writers discussed the devastation it wrought. But, as the late poet, essayist and novelist W G Sebald argues, the Germans were also victims of the war and the carpetbombing of German cities and the resulting suffering has been erased from history. It was never properly documented - instead postwar Germany simply picked up the pieces and tried to move on, its citizens shifting the rubble in an attempt at normality. The lectures printed here paint a startling portrait and this is a disturbing, thought-provoking collection. Sebald reports that 'about 600,000 German civilians fell victim to the air raids and 3.5 million homes were destroyed, while at the end of the war 7.5 million people were left homeless'. He finds it astonishing that this side of the war has been so little written about. How can the destruction be comprehended if it can't be adequately explained? Sebald's literary critiques on the works of three authors crucial to postwar literature - Alfred Andersch, Jean Amery and Peter Weiss - debate this question in depth. The book itself does not excuse or justify the actions of either side; it tries to create, analyse and deconstruct an accurate record, and succeeds remarkably. (Kirkus UK)

Details ISBN0140298002 Pages 224 Publisher Penguin Books Ltd Year 2004 Translator Anthea Bell ISBN-10 0140298002 ISBN-13 9780140298000 Format Paperback Publication Date 2004-03-04 Imprint Penguin Books Ltd Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom Translated from German DEWEY 830.900914 Illustrations b&w illustrations Author Anthea Bell Media Book Language English UK Release Date 2004-03-04 Audience General NZ Release Date 2004-03-03 AU Release Date 2004-03-03 We've got this

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