Writing and Rewriting the Reich

Writing and Rewriting the Reich offers a comprehensive history of German women journalists throughout the Nazi era.

Deborah Barton is an assistant professor of modern European history at the Université de Montréal.

"Barton’s Rewriting the Reich: Women Journalists in the Nazi and Post-War Press illuminates the historical role women journalists have played in permitting the actions of totalitarian regimes."

Jennifer V. Evans, Professor of History, Carleton University:

"In a richly argued and persuasive account of the multiple ways in which women journalists experienced the craft during a highly politicized – not to mention criminal – period of Germany’s history, Deborah Barton makes a strong case for women as agents of soft power, who buttressed the Nazi regime through their reportage in important and overlooked ways. This is a significant contribution to the growing literature on female perpetration."

V.R. Berghahn, Seth Low Emeritus Professor of History, Columbia University:

"This book combines the history of gender and journalism not only during the Hitler dictatorship but also in East and West Germany after 1945 in genuinely new perspectives. Though rightly critical of the self-justifications of women journalists writing for Nazi papers, Deborah Barton judiciously examines their trials and tribulations in three male-dominated societies. Highly recommended to both modern historians and students of today's mass media."

Belinda Davis, Professor of History, Rutgers University:

"Following the best recent work in fording conventional periodizations and geographic boundaries, Deborah Barton compellingly demonstrates the powerful role women journalists played in advancing the interests of the Nazi regime – and, all the more, in shaping the narrative of that regime, along with their own role, in both post-war Germanies. Writing and Rewriting the Reich is meticulously researched, beautifully written, and an absorbing read."

Elizabeth Harvey, Professor of History, University of Nottingham:

"This book is a remarkable research achievement. Deborah Barton recasts the history of journalism in Nazi and post-war Germany through the lens of gender, uncovering memorable stories about a multitude of women journalists. The author analyses the varied complicity of these journalists in Nazi war and violence and highlights numerous careers that carried on after 1945, when the chance to carry on writing also meant a chance to sanitize their roles in the German past."