RaveForbes... [a] seriously great, and wildly important new book ... While the author comes to a few odd conclusions, it would at the same time be difficult to find a more important book than Mallaby’s in 2022, and most any year for that matter. If read the right way, Mallaby’s brilliant book explains so much, and in the process discredits so much ... Mallaby has written a book about truly difficult, maladjusted, frustrating individuals who aren’t satisfied with how things are, and who are willing to risk it all in pursuit of something better. Mallaby articulates it wonderfully in a book that flows[.]
Harald Jähner tr. Shaun Whiteside
PositiveForbes... fascinating and obviously depressing ... Descriptive as Jahner plainly is, it’s no insight to say that there’s really no way for him or anyone to adequately describe the physical and mental state of Germany in the post-war years. Still, it’s valuable to contemplate as a reminder for all of how crucial it is to avoid war, and perhaps more importantly, to avoid glorifying it ... what this remarkable book is about; Germany reforming in the aftermath of something indescribably horrific. Jahner writes that the \'intention of this book has been to explain how the majority of Germans, for all their stubborn rejection of individual guilt; at the same time managed to rid themselves of the mentality that had made the Nazi regime possible.\' My conclusion is that Jahner’s intent was in a sense impossible. How to explain the brutal Germans that were, and the peaceful, civilized, growth-focused people they’ve become? There’s no way to, and that’s not a knock on Harald Jahner. It’s more an expression of horror about what people can become, while asking if what’s unspeakable could happen again.
Mark Harris
RaveForbes... endlessly interesting ... Harris plainly loves the industry that he writes about, so there’s lots of analysis and inside scoop about how movies were made ... Nichols’s life was long and amazing. Mark Harris makes 594 pages a total blast. You want to know his subject, while also learning from him. His story of the brilliant Mike Nichols reminds us how much we must risk failure in order to succeed. What a great, enriching read. Go get it.
