The Past is Myself & The Road Ahead Omnibus

The Past is Myself & The Road Ahead Omnibus

When I Was a German, 1934-1945: omnibus edition of two bestselling wartime memoirs that depict life in Nazi Germany with alarming honesty

Summary

Brought together for the first time in one edition, both of Christabel Bielenberg's bestselling memoirs give an incredibly moving, emotionally charged and compelling insight into life in Nazi Germany during The Third Reich and during the aftermath of World War Two. Offering a new perspective, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the wartime era.

'This is one of the best WWII books I have ever read'
-- ***** Reader review
'An excellent book and a must-read for anyone interested in this era' -- ***** Reader review
'Absorbing' -- ***** Reader review
'Intensely moving' -- ***** Reader review
'A wonderful book. I couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review
*****
The Past is Myself
Christabel Bielenberg, a niece of newspaper magnate Lord Northcliffe, married a German lawyer in 1934. She lived through the war in Germany, as a German citizen under the horrors of Nazi rule and Allied bombings. The Past is Myself is her story of that experience - and an unforgettable portrait of an evil time.

The Road Ahead
Following the extraordinary success of her wartime memoir, The Past is Myself, Christabel Bielenberg received thousands of letters from readers begging her to describe what happened next. In The Road Ahead she continues her story with the outbreak of peace - a time of struggle for reconciliation with, and the rebuilding of, a defeated nation. She also tells of life in her newly adopted country, Ireland, her involvement with the Peace Women of Northern Ireland, and with characteristic modesty and gratitude, looks back on a rich, full life.

Anyone interested in the Second World War and life in the 1930s and 1940s will devour these unflinchingly honest and enthralling memoirs, published together in one edition for the first time.

About the author

Christabel Bielenberg

Christabel Bielenberg, a niece of Lord Northcliffe, was born in 1909 and left for Hamburg, Germany, in 1929 to study singing. There she met and married the lawyer, Peter Bielenberg, in 1934. She lived through the war as a German citizen and wrote about her experiences in her memoir, The Past is Myself (1968) and in its sequel, The Road Ahead (1992). The Past is Myself was adapted for television by Dennis Potter under the title Christabel. In 1988, the Federal Republic of Germany awarded her the Commander's cross of the Order of Merit for her contribution to German-English understanding. Since 1948 she and her family had been living in Co Carlow, Ireland, where she died in 2003.
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