Hard times

Más información sobre el libro

G. H. Hertling, Professor emeritus in Germanics at the University of Washington, reflects on his youth during the National Socialist regime and its aftermath. Born in 1930 in Pasadena, California, to German parents, his family's last visit to Germany became a turning point, as he and his German mother were unable to return to the U.S., while his father managed to repatriate alone. Growing up in Hitler's 'Grand German Empire of a Thousand Years,' he experienced the air raids in Hamburg and the devastation of Munich, attending both a private and a state-administered high school in Bavaria. Hertling grapples with his dual identity as a member of the Hitler Youth and a German-American with liberal-democratic ideals. He vividly recounts the challenges of his formative years during World War II, sharing personal and historical insights that shaped his psychological and emotional landscape. His narrative is enhanced by a collection of historical and personal images. After forty-four years at the University of Washington, where he joined the faculty in 1961 following his graduate studies at UC Berkeley, Hertling specializes in modern German literature and thought from the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing on the Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Poetic Realism.