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KEMPOWSKI, WALTER: : SWANSONG 1945: A COLLECTIVE DIARY FROM HITLER'S LAST BIRTHDAY TO VE DAY. [Translated from the German by Shaun Whiteside.]

LONDON.GRANTA PUBLICATIONS,2014.

ISBN 9781847086402.

UK,8vo HB+protective dw/dj,1st edn. [Complete number line 9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8.] NMINT/NMINT. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,matt,b/w photographic illustrated dw/dj panels,with capitalised, black-lettered author name,capitalised, red with black flecking-lettered title and other capitalised black-lettered sub-title to front panel of dw/dj; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered title+author name as front,and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered name to head of same,rear panel with an enlarged b/w photograph detail from front's photograph and 2 critic's white-lettered reviews.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright,crisp,clean without foxing/ spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp, unblemished sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt lettering and immaculate plain black endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,ix-xxiipp+1- 477pp [paginated] includes Foreword by Alan Bance,author's Preface,author's Editorial Note,a Note on the English translation,2pp Abbreviations,2 poetry verses (from Spring Faith,by Ludwig Uhland - translated by J. W. Thomas),Diary entries Friday,20th April 1945, Wednesday, 25th April 1945, Monday,30th April 1945, Tuesday,8th May/Wednesday,9th May 1945,and an Epilogue, Acknowledgements,Sources: (1.) Published and broadcast sources,(2.) Archives and institutions,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,a Contents list/table; the latter four each with a blank reverse,and to the rear,a single page of information on English PEN's Writers in Translation programme,also with blank reverse,followed by a further 8pp blanks.        Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation.It really is an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults.                                          'Swansong 1945' brings together hundreds of letters, diary extracts and autobiographical accounts to chronicle four days in 1945: 20th April, Hitler's last birthday, 25th April, when American and Soviet troops first met at the Elbe, 30th April, the day Hitler committed suicide, and 8th May, the day of the German surrender. Side by side in these pages, we encounter civilians fleeing on foot to the west, British and American POWs dreaming of home, concentration camp survivors, loyal soldiers from both sides of the conflict as well as national leaders including Churchill,Hitler and Mussolini.                                        These first-hand accounts, which Walter Kempowski painstakingly collected, organised and shaped for publication over twenty years, provide the raw material of history unmediated by a historian's narrative. The voices of individuals speak for themselves, and through their many experiences, perspectives and situations, the condition of Europe during the zero hour of war is viscerally recreated. A monumental account of survival,suffering,hope and despair - a modern classic,this vital work brings vividly to life a time and a conflict whose repercussions are still felt today.        WALTER KEMPOWSKI (1929-2007) was one of Germany's most important post-war writers.After WW2 he settled in Hamburg,but on returning to his home town of Rostok in the late 1940s he wassentenced to twenty-five years in prison for espionage by a Soviet military tribunal; he served 8 years,in Bautzen. His first success as an author was with his acclaimed series of novels German Chronicles. In the 1980s he began work on Echo Soundings [Das Echolot], gathering together first hand accounts, diaries, letters and memoirs of the second world war, which he collated and curated into ten volumes published over 20 years, and which is considered a modern classic. 'Swansong 1945',published in Germany in 2005 as 'Abgesang '45',here translated into English for the first time,is the final volume of that work.                                    Shaun Whiteside's translations from the German include classics by Freud, Musil,Neitzsche and Schnitzler,as well as contemporary works including 'The Giraffe's Neck by Judith Schalansky and (with Jamie Lee Searle) '1913' by Florian Illies. Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.  ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+protective dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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