As an historian, I thought that I knew a fair amount about the aftermath of World War II. But, S. Harding's book was a revelation to me about all the details that I did not know. The book is very detailed and could have benefited, in my opinion, by a little less detail. However, having said that, it is a minor criticism. He had me at the first chapter which documents in stunning detail the complexity simply of removing all the mountains of rubble in the cities of Germany. This impacted where the Germans could find rentals and housing which led to other ripple effects. Germany's infrastructure was non-existent. There was no mail delivery, no newspapers or ways to disperse news. The people who could run many of the institutions were ex-Nazis. There were millions and millions of displaced people and people on the move despite transportation having ground to a standstill for a while. Returning soldiers were not always welcomed by their families and returning soldiers did not always fit back into their families, suffering from what we now know as PTSD. The country was occupied by four powers that did not necessarily cooperate with each other, especially in the Russian sector. It is a fascinating book and will make you appreciate the country that is Germany now and scratch your head that it was possible.