The German-American Encounter

While Germans, the largest immigration group in the United States, contributed to the shaping of American society and left their mark on many areas from religion and education to food, farming, political and intellectual life, Americans have been instrumental in shaping German democracy after World War II. Both sides can claim to be part of each other's history, and yet the question arises whether this claim indicates more than a historical interlude in the forming of the Atlantic civilization.

In this volume some of the leading historians, social scientists and literary scholars from both sides of the Atlantic have come together to investigate, for the first time in a broad interdisciplinary collaboration, the nexus of these interactions in view of current and future challenges to German-American relations.

Frank Trommler is Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Director of the Humanities Program at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington.

Elliott Shore is Professor of History and Director of Libraries at Bryn Mawr College. With Frank Trommler, he has helped to reestablish the library of the German Society of Pennsylvania.

Frank Trommler is Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Director of the Humanities Program at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies in Washington.

"This brimming volume…offers a broad array of brisk, pithy individual pieces…solid, well-written." · Central European History

"[The editors] succeed admirably in their goal…The book is truly interdisciplinary…and should have a wide readership…it offers interesting, fresh perspectives on the study of German-American relations after the end of the Cold War...and is ideal for classroom use." · H-Net, Humanities & Social Sciences Online

"... this stimulating collection makes plain that a new threshold in German-American relations has been crossed, leaving behind once and for all the comforts and discreet charm of Cold War culture." · German History

"A rich collection… Despite the variety of approaches and topics the essays are almost uniformly of high quality." · Journal of American Ethnic History

"Even those readers [who will be familiar with the larer issues raised by many of the papers], are likely to find both stimulating and rewarding the perspectives and insights of the various authors ... lots of food for thought." · American Studies

"... remarkably rich and complex." · H-GAGCS, H-Net Reviews

"This brimming volume…offers a broad array of brisk, pithy individual pieces…brings together twenty-two solid, well-written essays, grouped under three broad headings, each prefaced by perceptive, concisely framed introductory essays." · Central European History

"…the volume is both a diagnosis and symptom of changing times. For this stimulating collection makes plain that a new threshold in German-American relations has been crossed, leaving behind once and for all the comfort and discreet charm of Cold War Culture." · German History