Wunderland

The Weimar republic and the Third Reich loom large in German history, but what happened afterwards? How did a nation that had so recently been the centre of the biggest international war to date, led by the perpetrators of the greatest crimes history has ever scene, transform itself into the modern, progressive nation we know today? Wunderland reveals the transformations that took place, economically and culturally, from 1955-1967 as the nation came to grips with the legacy of WW2 and found ways to redefine itself as a society where democracy, wellbeing and the freedom of expression could thrive again. In a world rocked by the rise of authoritarian leaders around the world, Wunderland is a powerful reminder that when these regimes fall, they can leave in their wake something even better: an opportunity for rebirth, reconciliation and unprecedented growth.

Harald Jähner is a cultural journalist and former editor of the Berliner Zeitung. He was also an honorary professor of cultural journalism at the Berlin University of the Arts. His book Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich was shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction in the UK and won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize for Non-Fiction in his native Germany.