Alone in Berlin
Hardback Published on: 03/11/2011
Price: £30.00
Bookseller Reviews
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An eye opening classic
Although I found reading this book more challenging than what I'm used to reading, I stuck with it and thought it was absolutely brilliant. Filled with a r... READ MORE
All the Rage
Based on true events, Hans Fallada’s formidably accomplished and moving novel tells of one couple’s resistance to the most vicious regime in human history.... READ MORE
Fantastic account of Germany under Nazi Rule
This is an incredible book, telling the story of an ordinary couple who wanted to try to disrupt the Nazi War machine by leaving postcards written with ant... READ MORE
Synopsis
This is a slipcased hardback edition of Hans Fallada's bestselling novel, translated by Michael Hofmann, with the original first Penguin edition artwork. Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear. At the house on 55 Jablonski Strasse, its various occupants try to live under Nazi rule in their different ways: the bullying Hitler loyalists the Persickes, the retired judge Fromm and the unassuming couple Otto and Anna Quangel. Then the Quangels receive the news that their beloved son has been killed fighting in France. Shocked out of their quiet existence, they begin a silent campaign of defiance, and a deadly game of cat and mouse develops between the Quangels and the ambitious Gestapo inspector Escherich. When petty criminals Kluge and Borkhausen also become involved, deception, betrayal and murder ensue, tightening the noose around the Quangels' necks...
Publisher information
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- ISBN: 9780141198552
- Dimensions: 245 x 164 x 44 mm
- Weight: 870g
Customer Reviews
View allExcellent read about resilience in wartime Berlin!
Excellent read, its a good read about resilience in Berlin under Nazi rule. Book starts well, but then slows down a little in the middle. But the ending is... READ MORE
Fantastic
My grandmother spent her late teens and early twenties in war time Berlin, so I know many stories, but more about the effects of war rather than the effect... READ MORE
An important book
Before I read this book I'm ashamed to say I didn't know much about the situation ordinary German citizens found themselves in during WWII. This book helpe... READ MORE
Thought provoking
This is a brilliant story that really makes you think about what life may have been like for the Berliners during WWII. It combines so many different emoti... READ MORE
One of the best books I've ever read
One of the best books I've ever read, gripping, beautifully written/translated into English. Not for the feint-hearted but great read and you really begin ... READ MORE
A masterpiece- Fantastic
A fantastic novel about resistance to the nazi regime in Berlin in the war.This is the best novel written about the German resistance in the war, based on ... READ MORE
Superb!
What a fantastic book! I read it about a year ago and haven't stopped thinking about it - or giving it out to all my friends - since. As a bit of a war-boo... READ MORE
the truth will out
I have read other books about how the German people lived terrified of the monster that was the Nazi party and the evil that they promoted. This book conti... READ MORE
good
as an avid bedtime reader i this is one of the best i have read in a long time.it made me realise how some people in Berlin were anti-nazi and very courage... READ MORE
exceptional
I couldn't put this book down, it is so absorbing and puts a different perspective on life in Nazi Germany, for non-party followers. It gives a real human ... READ MORE
Character study in Nazi Berlin
This is a fascinating book, but readers looking for a ‘thriller’ should avoid this like the plague.
Alone in Berlin is a tale of gentle rebellion set with... READ MORE
Living the nightmare...
Fallada, with 'Alone In Berlin', produced a masterpiece in Western literature, and I was truly saddened when I read that he died before it was published.
... READ MORE
One of the best books I have ever read
Alone in Berlin is one of the best books I have ever read. With a gripping plot you feel real empathy for the main characters as the story line pulls you i... READ MORE
A modern classic
This is a superb novel set in WW2 Germany and based on a true story of resistance - albeit on a small scale - to the Nazi regime from a hard working German... READ MORE
Extraorrdinary
This is a remarkable book about simple characters doing simple but brave things against the backdrop of evil. The story revolves around an old couple who s... READ MORE
fantastiq
A must read, an under dranatises but powerfully emotive book detailing the simple act of defiance against Hitler and the war by simple working class couple... READ MORE
Brilliant
Complex characters, original idea with factual basis. How could anyone register a protest against something as pervasive and powerful as the Nazi regime? A... READ MORE
Alone in Berlin
To read a book based on the harsh realities of what WW2 was like for those in Berlin, was a real eye opener. To see that even German people disagreed with ... READ MORE
Very clever title.
Very engaging story. Characters come alive in the book.
Even if a persons contribution to making a difference is only small, its worth standing up for good... READ MORE
Interesting....
Enjoyed the book, although I found it a SLOW read.
Very interesting, however also sad.
I couldn't put this down!
This is one of the finest novels I have read in recent years.The author successfully creates the suffocating atmosphere of wartime Berlin, the fear of the ... READ MORE
Fantastic!
This is a brilliant book by a brilliant author. A wonderful story with characters you can't help but care about from the start to the very end. A must read... READ MORE
One of the best books i've read in a long time
This book is a brilliant read for any interested in what life was really like back in ww2 Germany. It follows the lives of many people, all connected someh... READ MORE
A disturbing read
I found this book to be oddly compelling and very disturbing. The insidious nature of The Gestapo, SS and Nazi constraints on the German people in addition... READ MORE
Lest We Forget...
Written in 1947, it has taken over 60 years for an English translation of this novel to appear and its power hasn't waned with the passing years. Allegedly... READ MORE
A masterpiece, stick with it and it will reward.
A necessary slow start introducing the characters, but soon picks up into an intricate connection of lives and characters in situations that has you thinki... READ MORE
A novel and so much more
A story about ordinary people and extraordinary courage. An education on the totalitarian power and outright sadism of the German National Socialists durin... READ MORE
Interesting but slow
I found this book really interesting - the characters are very "real", the book is very easy to read, but I found it very slow. The book starts off well, d... READ MORE
Gripping once you get into it
I'll admit, this really did take me a little while to get into, 250 odd pages in fact. But when I did, I was hooked and couldn't read it fast enough. The... READ MORE
"The" classic novel of BERLIN?
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada was written just after the war. It was based on the case of Elise and Otto Hampel, a poorly educated and impecunious couple... READ MORE
Gripping
You see the world through the eyes of ordinary people fighting back against the oppressors. Seriously amazing book!
A study of state murder
In Michael Hofmann's otherwise reliable translation one must be told that this 1947 novel, written in 24 days, it would be impossible to say that schizophr... READ MORE
Heartbreaking
Such a great book. Captures the time, the people and the pressures and motivations they were all feeling. Amazing.