..". the range, power, and archival resourcefulness of Barnouw's book will make it impossible for anyone working in the field to ignore this powerful and disturbing historical meditation on the societal function and responsibility of the intellecutual." --The German Quarterly

..". a work of real value for patient readers." --American Journal of Sociology

..". a forceful and compelling thesis that challenges our understanding of several seminal figures writing during the first half of the century." --Monatshefte

In this challenging study of a complex period, Barnouw...

Hannah Arendt still makes people angry. Her writings on the modern German-Jewish experience are deliberately challenging--and sometimes shocking--to an audience used to thinking of the Jewish people as the victims of history. Visible Spaces is the most ambitious attempt to date to explore the origins and implications of Arendt's political thought. Dagmar Barnouw, an admiring yet critical reader, draws extensively on unpublished archival materials relating to the Jewish experience in modern Germany and its influence on Arendt's political philosophy. Arendt's work is discussed...

Photographers from the U.S. Army's Signal Corps were with the troops that drove back Hitler's troops and occupied Germany at the end of WWII. Soon photos of death camps and starving POWs shocked the home front, providing ample evidence of Nazi brutality. Yet did the faces of the defeated Germans show remorse? The victors saw only arrogance, servility, and the resentment of a population thoroughly brainwashed by the Nazis. In fact, argues Dagmar Barnouw, the photographs from this period tell a more complex story and hold many clues for a better understanding of the recent German past.