Abstract

Now that the fire from the raging Historikerstreit or “Controversy of the Historians” in West Germany has simmered down and the smoke has begun to dear, we can finally estimate the damage done to German historiography (if any) and determine what caused the vitriolic exchange between Habermas and some of the leading German historians. And there is no better inspector to help us examine the flaming words and their aftermath man Charles Maier, whose book, The Unmasterable Past, draws out the far-reaching ramifications of the Streit by placing it in a socio-historical context marked by a strong conservative endeavor to redefine if not reform German identity.