A Foot In Both Camps - Marcus Ferrar

The paths of Britain and Germany have constantly diverged. This historical memoir based on years of research and interviews is a touching and moving account of two peoples and their contrasting values. The writer is a journalist who lived with Britons and Germans for over 50 years. His German mother emigrated to England after falling foul of the Nazis. His British father fought in World War II, and the author grew up proud of Britain’s victory over Hitler. Yet from an early age, he became acquainted with German relatives and the German economic miracle. While the British gave up an Empire and devalued the pound, the Germans built fast railways and well-functioning new industries.

In the Cold War, the author lived as a Reuters correspondent in Communist East Berlin, experiencing the militaristic habits of old Germany and the humiliation of a people saddled with a failed economic system they did not want.

He highlights exceptional characters in German history who dared to swim against the tide. Some paid a severe price, but others such as Ludwig Erhard, Lucius Clay and Willy Brandt changed the course of history. No religion, doctrine or teaching showed them which way to go. They instinctively felt back to simple values in their inner consciences. “Decency, manners, consideration,” was how one defiant victim of Hitler put it.

This engaging book traces the dramatic changes which have taken place in German attitudes, including a swing to pacifism while Britain persists in a military heritage. After creating mayhem during the Nazi era, Germans have regained the high ground through unreserved assumption of guilt. Now, through the hard work and thrift the author already observed in his grandfather, as well as the generosity they showed to old foes in the Cold War, Germans are set to become the natural leaders in Europe.