Cover of Every Man Dies Alone

Every Man Dies Alone

This never-before-translated masterpiece—by a heroic best-selling writer who saw his life crumble under the Nazis— is based on a true story. It presents a richly detailed portrait of life in Berlin under the Nazis and tells the sweeping saga of one working-class couple who decides to take a stand when their only son is killed at the front.

Read more

First published in Germany in 1947, Every Man Dies Alone is a true masterpiece from a bestselling writer who saw his life crumble following his decision not to flee Germany and his refusal to join the Nazi party. The novel presents a richly detailed portrait of life in Berlin under the Nazis and tells the sweeping saga of one working-class couple's decision to take a stand when their only son is killed at the front. With nothing but their grief and each other against the awesome power of the Reich, Otto and Anna Quangel launch a simple, clandestine resistance campaign that soon has an enraged Gestapo on their trail, and a world of terrified neighbors and cynical snitches ready to turn them in. In the end, Every Man Dies Alone is more than an edge-of-your-seat thriller, more than a moving romance, even more than literature of the highest order—it's a deeply stirring story of two people standing up for what's right, and for each other.

Themes
politics
Audience
adult
Length
long · 543 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Every Man Dies Alone? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Every Man Dies Alone. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Winter Men Shares historical fiction, World War II, fiction
  2. Diary of a Man in Despair Shares World War II, nonfiction, german
  3. Point of No Return Shares historical fiction, World War II, fiction
  4. Visitation Shares historical fiction, fiction, german

“People who read Every Man Dies Alone tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Oppermanns
  2. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary
  3. Defying Hitler
  4. The German Lesson

“If you want more of the same (historical fiction about politics), start with these.”

  1. The Dark Room
  2. Goebbels: A Biography
  3. The Kindly Ones
  4. Children and Fire

“If it was the World War II that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Gone to Soldiers
  2. Desperate Ground
  3. The Memories We Keep
  4. A World to Win

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. An Honorable German
  2. Rise
  3. Too Shy for Show-And-Tell
  4. Galina: A Russian Story