The Baader-Meinhof Complex

Stefan Aust

$49.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Jonathan Cape
01 January 2009

History; Terrorism, armed struggle

The definitive history of the German terrorist Red Army Faction (1970-98)- both a fast-paced narrative, which reads like a thriller, and an essential guide to the understanding of terrorism - then and now.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE.

The rise and fall of the Baader-Meinhof group constitutes one of the most remarkable phenomena of post-war Europe. A group of young people, most of them from solid, middle-class backgrounds, took the law into their own hands, and by means of arson, bombing, kidnap and murder sought to alter the direction of national, and indeed international, politics.

Rooted in the student protest movement of the late 1960s, the story of the group begins in May 1970 with the freeing of Andreas Baader - imprisoned for planting fire bombs in protest against the Vietnam War - by Ulrike Meinhof, Gudrun Ensslin and others. They spent the years that followed requisitioning apartments from left-wing sympathisers, stealing cars and robbing banks in preparation for attacks on US military bases.

After an intense manhunt, the ringleaders of the group, which now called itself the Red Army Faction (RAF), were finally captured in 1972. Their prolonged trial began in 1975 and lasted for almost 2 years, in the course of which Ulrike Meinhof hanged herself in her cell. The other members of the group were convicted and received life sentences.

The 'war of six against sixty million' (Heinrich B ll) reached its climax in the autumn of 1977 when supporters tried to secure their release by kidnapping the president of the German Employers' Association, Hanns Martin Schleyer, and later by hijacking a Lufthansa jet, which was eventually captured by German special forces at Mogadishu airport. On the morning the rescue was announced, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe were all found dead in their cells. The 'German Autumn' marked the violent peak of a journey that had begun with peaceful protests against the American war in Vietnam - moral outrage had turned into blatant immorality.

Stefan Aust's utterly absorbing account of these events reads like a first-class thriller. The Baader-Meinhof Complex is the definitive chronicle of seven years that changed Germany.

By: Stefan Aust
Imprint: Jonathan Cape
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 35mm
Weight: 638g
ISBN: 9781847920454
ISBN 10: 1847920454
Pages: 480
Publication Date: 01 January 2009
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stefan Aust is the editor of the political weekly Der Spiegel, Germany's most influential magazine.

Reviews for The Baader-Meinhof Complex

Tautly written, gripping and suspenseful Guardian Filled with fascinating information and piquant details Literary Review Stefan Aust is well placed to write the history of the most notorious of several terrorist groups -- Michael Burleigh Sunday Telegraph Stephen Aust's meticulously researched chronicle of German left-wing terrorism -- Philip Oltermann Guardian Meticulous history of the most famous German terrorist group -- Dominic Sandbrook Daily Telegraph