Germany

Christopher Blattman: Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace

WAR: Christopher Blattman's long-term project has been to explore the reasons why conflict between groups and nations erupts into war.

SABOTAGE: Earlier this summer, the US Navy participated in an exercise with underwater vessels in the area off Bornholm – where the explosions of Nord Stream 1 and 2 took place in September. What were they doing there? For Russia, the purpose of the gas pipelines was to intertwine Russia with Europe. Could the USA's motivation have been to break up this cooperation and start an economic war against Europe – as, for example, Germany has now become dependent on their LNG gas?

Ingrid Brekke: The land of broken hearts. An insight into German politics

Germany: With the social democrat Olaf Scholz in the driver's seat, according to Brekke's new book, it may seem as if the "Merkelian" leadership style has taken hold. She also believes that Germany's interest in Norway is especially great right now.

Julia Adeney Thomas and Geoff Eley: Visualizing Fascism. The Twentieth-Century Rise of the Global Right

FASCISM: This does not necessarily manifest itself through mass spectacles and revolutionary fractures, and it is not a primarily European phenomenon. But like a product of political crises in the modern capitalist states.

: NOTICE We need a media culture and a society built on accountability and truth. We do not have that today.

Peter Michalzik: Vegetarier, Künstler und Visionäre suchen nach dem Neuen Paradies

INNOVATORS: The anarchist collective project Monte Verità was a groundbreaking, vibrant center with inspiration for ideas that are heard even today.

Sibyl Berg: Nerds save the world

VOLUNTARY WORK: Sibylle Berg has written a current book in which she interviews nerds who are trying to save the world.

Jens Bjørneboe: The moment of freedom

EUROPE: Bjørneboe's black humor is dialectical thinking about the conditions of unsentimental human dignity. It strikes with its cynicism the blue-eyed and decent mass murderers of the usual barbaric moral type. '

FREEDOM OF SPEECH: The opportunity to say something is always very limited, says MODERN TIMES 'regular writer in this essay about different authorities' use of force. Away from today's mass media, an "underground" network of intellectuals has now emerged, including experienced journalists, intelligence officers, renowned professors and politicians.

Andrew Reckwitz: The End of Illusions. Politics, Economics and Culture in the Late Modern

THE MIDDLE CLASS: Relevant in these corona times is whether Reckwitz's analysis opens up for a restructuring of the economy back to a "real economy" – from the cultural capitalism where the goods promise consumers symbolic, narrative, aesthetic and ethical experiences.

Alexander Rastorgujev: Electing Russia

: Electing Russia sheds a depressing light on the opposition in Russia. Do they really represent a real change, for the benefit of the people?

Heinz Bude / Alexander Sedlmaier / Christina von Hodenberg: Adorno for Ruinschildren: A History of 1968 / Consumption and Violence: Radical Protest in the Federal Republic / The Other Eighties: Social History of a Revolt

: Three newly published books about the sixty-eight provide partly surprising and new perspectives. All are written by scientists who do not even belong to this mythical generation.

Gretchen Dutschke / Rudi Dutschke / Elisabeth Zoeller: 1968. We are proud to dare / story is feasible. Texts about the prevailing falsehood and the Radicality of Peace / Change the World! The Life of Rudi Dutschke

: Much is unclear about the role of key players in the German '68 uprising. Therefore, a black-and-white interpretation of the era will never be correct. 

: Anyone who has seen the film The Lives of Others on Surveillance in the GDR State knows that the East German authorities knew their lousy craft at their fingertips. The United Federal Republic is now introducing comprehensive statutory surveillance using new digital spyware.

Werner Sun: Where the storm sat

: In Werner Sonne's new political thriller, fake and facts merge into a higher and most frightening unit.

Christian Krönes / Olaf S. Müller / Roland Schrotthofer / Florian Weigensamer: A German Life

: Goebbels' self-proclaimed apolitical secretary tells his version of historical events. The result is an important document for posterity, but is this all we need?