Year Zero: A History of 1945

The New York Times Book Review - Adam Hochschild: Ian Buruma´s lively new history, ´Year Zero,´ is about the various ways in which the aftermath of the Good War turned out badly for many people, and splendidly for some who didn´t deserve it. It is enriched by his knowledge of six languages, a sense of personal connection to the era (his Dutch father was a forced laborer in Berlin) and his understanding of this period from a book he wrote two decades ago that is still worth reading, ´The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan. (9/29 issue)