Elbrus, the highest mountain in Russia and Europe, by members of the Wehrmacht’s mountain division, was a publicity stunt and seems to be included in this book simply because three of the climbers were from Oberstdorf. Ms Boyd's idea to describe life in a village during the inter-war period sounds interesting as most of the books cover towns or cities whereas countrylife is rather obscure.

Julia Boyd and her collaborator Anjelika Patel paint a compelling picture of how every aspect of life changed over the course of two decades within this community. The result is a fascinating (and sometimes disturbing) read, and a worthy follow-up to Boyd's "Travellers in the Third Reich. The local focus of books was a sensation, as most history was at that time still written from the traditional power perspectives. But one thing stands out beyond doubt: even in the smallest of villages, the impact of Nazism and the Second World were inescapable.esmemoria on “What the stories never said: at the end of the day, if a man wants to kill you, he kills you. Every child and adult that was institutionalized, or regarded as `deviant, disabled, or ‘useless” were the first to be euthanized under Nazi regime; red pluses on the birth certificate meant death, whereas the blue minuses were safe for the time being. This is one of those books that is hard to rate because the content has such a somber air around it. Boyd's prose is clear, confident and measured, connecting national events to Oberstdorf as often as possible, a device that never feels forced — only human.

In 1933, 52% voted for the Nazis and a staggering 98,5 % voted in favour of the Austrian Anschluss in 1938. Famous for Alpine sports, it’s a traditional, picturesque village and an interesting microhistory subject for several reasons. The authors have used a multiplicity of facts, historical documents, including letters and newspapers, and eye-witness accounts from during the period covered by the book and in hindsight, to tell the reader a plethora of interesting stories about the lives and adventures of the village’s many inhabitants: committed Nazis, members of the Resistance, and the large number of those in-between, who, perhaps fearing the oppressive power and many cruelties of the Nazi regime and brainwashed by propaganda, enabled, though their silence and inaction, the many atrocities committed by those in positions of power and influence at that time.Allen drew attention to the most spectacular Nazi device for raising funds and justifying their rule, the Eintopfgerichtsonntage or “Stew Sundays. The study of Julia Boyd, based on earlier work of Angelika Patel, questions how far Nazism and World War II influenced village life.