In this harrowing and precise investigation of one of the least examined silences of our time. In it, the novelist examines the devastation of German cities by Allied bombardment and the reasons for the astonishing absence of this unprecedented trauma from German history and culture. But rather than record the crises about them, writers sought to retrospectively justify their actions under the Nazis. For Sebald, this is an example of deliberate cultural amnesia.

Includes essays on Alfred Andersch, Jean Améry, and Peter Weiss. Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-202).

Air war and literature : Zürich lectures -- Between the devil and the deep blue sea : on Alfred Andersch -- Against the irreversible : on Jean Améry -- The remorse of the heart : on memory and cruelty in the work of Peter Weiss.