Michael H. Kater explores the complex manifestations of the West German cultural scene and its attempts to grapple with the vestiges of Nazism. Ranging from partition to reunification, he shows how the gradual reemergence of democracy was possible only through the efforts of artists to reckon with their past.

Michael H. Kater is distinguished research professor emeritus of history at York University, Toronto, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author of Culture in Nazi Germany, Weimar: From Enlightenment to the Present, and Hitler Youth.