The Quest for the Lost Nation: Writing History in Germany and Japan in the American Century Volume 12 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780520259447)

Highly praised when published in Germany, The Quest for the Lost Nation is a brilliant chronicle of Germany's and Japan's struggles to reclaim a defeated national past. Sebastian Conrad compares the ways German and Japanese scholars revised national history after World War II in the shadows of fascism, surrender, and American occupation. Defeat in 1945 marked the death of the national past in both countries, yet, as Conrad proves, historians did not abandon national perspectives during reconstruction. Quite the opposite--the nation remained hidden at the center of texts as scholars tried to make sense of the past and searched for fragments of the nation they had lost. By situating both countries in the Cold War, Conrad shows that the focus on the nation can be understood only within a transnational context.

Author: Sebastian Conrad
ISBN-10: 0520259440
ISBN-13: 9780520259447
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 07/15/2010
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.30d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 04/01/2011