RaveThe Wall Street Journal[Feigel's] narrative is a fine balance of political insights, cultural observations and tabloid fodder. Many of these luminaries, she argues, came to the demolished country to help it rebuild, but in the end they were changed far more by Germany than Germany was changed by them ... The many private letters that Ms. Feigel cites prove to be particularly effective in capturing the artists’ feelings and the mentality of the time. She also skillfully represents the predicament faced by these figures—and indeed by the civilized world. What could be done? Who was guilty? And how should the perpetrators be punished?
