Berlin 1936

Engrossing – Matt Chilton, Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph *Eighty years after the events it depicts, Berlin 1936 is a small masterpiece – you actually feel like you were there… The book was originally in German, but Jefferson Chase’s translation is so perfectly judged, you’d never even notice – Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail, Books of the Year *Entertaining… A vivid collage of vignettes gleaned from diaries, police reports, snippets from newspapers, and so on. It dances from comedy to tragedy, from the ironic to the sinister, to give a picture of a darkening Germany… Hilmes has an eye for incidental detail. – Robbie Millen * The Times *A German historian charts the Berlin Olympics day by day through a series of memorable vignettes of life under Nazism. Hilmes’ deceptively jaunty, even comic tone echoes that of the Games themselves – Simon Kuper * Financial Times, Books of the Year *This book reads like a tourist guide to a city on the eve of destruction – Gerard DeGroot * The Times, Books of the Year *Written with great verve, compassion and humour, Hilmes’ book brings to life a panoramic cast of characters … Compelling, suspenseful and beautifully done – Anna Funder, author of STASILANDJefferson Chase’s excellent translation gives us taut prose that adds to the sense of unease – Emma John * Guardian, Books of the Year *Thrilling … Berlin 1936, with its keyhole glimpses into otherwise private lives, gives us an engaging portrait of those last flashes individuality in the Third Reich. – Robert Leigh-Pemberton * Daily Telegraph *This fascinating work captures the simmering complexity of a society as it enters one of the darkest chapters of modern history. With chilling immediacy, Hilmes offers portraits taken from a whole cross section of Berlin, characters as vivid as any from an Otto Dix or George Grosz painting – Chloe Aridjis, author of BOOK OF CLOUDSAnybody looking for an alternative history of one of the most controversial Games in the history of the Olympics should look no further * Daily Express *

Oliver Hilmes studied history, politics and psychology in Paris, Marburg and Potsdam, and holds a doctorate in twentieth-century history. His books include Malevolent Muse- The Life of Alma Mahler, Cosima Wagner- The Lady of Bayreuth and Franz Liszt- Musician, Celebrity, Superstar. Berlin 1936 was a top-ten bestseller on publication in Germany.