Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in WWII history. My grandfather was stationed in Germany after the war, so this was a very eye-opening examination of what Germany faced in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and the cultural shifts it created.

Not bad, but nothing special. Ideally, 3.5 stars. Wasn't a lot new in here for me.

I had not heard of Hans Habe before, and I hadn't heard the history of Wolfsburg and Volkswagen's early years. Habe, a Hungarian Jew who made his way to Germany between the wars, then the US for obvious reasons, was a US Army Major and a leader in establishing postwar German newspapers while in the Army. He eventually ran afoul of Army brass for basically not harshing down enough on enough Germans, resigned his commission and came back as a civilian. Wolfsburg? "Factory town" to the max. And, I didn't realize how few VWs were actually built before the company was re-engineered for war to build the crappy imitation Jeep, the kubelwagen.

But, that was about it on major new stuff.

One other shortcoming? Especially if one excludes all four powers' holdings in Berlin, there's very little in the book about East Germany.