Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942–2022.

Frank Trentmann's book, "Out of the Darkness: The Germans, 1942–2022," offers a new perspective on the history and identity of Germans after World War II. Trentmann argues that the history of Germany is fundamentally a politics of morality, exploring themes of guilt, shame, self-pity, indifference, and atonement. The book covers eighty years of German history and examines how Germans themselves grappled with their past and transformed it into a source of civic pride. Trentmann's work challenges the notion of a feel-good narrative of Germany's moral redemption and offers a balanced and fair-minded account of the successes and failures in Germany's moral transformation. [Extracted from the article]