Persephone book #152

First published in 2024

"Crooked Cross describes, through the eyes of one ordinary family, the Nazis' growth in power between December 1932 and August 1933. It is extraordinarily prescient, anticipating all the horrors they were about to inflict on the world, and in this respect it joins a small group of novels, PB no. 39 Manja and PB no. 136 The Oppermanns among them, which were written to try to alert the world to what was happening. The main focus of the novel is on disaffected German youth: it shows with great subtlety that by the early 1930s there was huge unemployment, and a corresponding feeling of futility, and that what the Nazis did so skilfully was to provide a sense of purpose. Crooked Cross is the best account we've read of why some young men who feel disaffected, lost or ignored turn towards authoritarian governments."--

Preface / Laura Freeman -- Christmas eve 1932 -- Part 1 : New Year 1933 -- Part II : spring 1933 -- Part III : early summer 1933 -- Part IV : midsummer 1933 -- Midsummer night's eve 1933