Steffen Mau Shortlisted for the NDR Non-Fiction Prize 2024
News24.10.2024
Steffen Mau has made the shortlist of the NDR Non-Fiction Prize 2024 with his book Unity without Equality.
Siv Stippekohl writes of the book: »Steffen Mau reveals that the decades-long assumption that East and West Germany would gradually become equal or come to resemble one another is a delusion. He identifies a lack of nuance in debates about the past, and argues that the forces of renewal unleashed by the Peaceful Revolution were stymied by the process of German unification. He does away with a number of misunderstandings, describes windows of opportunity for right-wing extremist forces, identifies a ›formal weakness in the civil society‹ of the former East, and diagnoses instances of ›wear and tear‹ in the fabric of democracy.«
Since 2009, NDR has been awarding its Non-Fiction Prize to the »best non-fiction book written in German that addresses issues that are relevant to the future«. From 125 submissions, the nomination committee put together an initial longlist, which has now been whittled down to the final three.
The NDR Non-Fiction Prize is endowed with €15,000, and this year’s winner will be announced on 7 November at a public event at the Sartorius-Campus in Göttingen.
Unity without Equality has been an absolute sensation in Germany, selling 70,000 copies so far, carrying on the success of Mau’s in-depth sociological study of political opinion in Germany, Trigger Points, which has been camped out on the Spiegel bestseller list since its release more than a year ago, with sales topping 55,000.
For more information on Unity without Equality, please contact the rights manager for your region.
Siv Stippekohl writes of the book: »Steffen Mau reveals that the decades-long assumption that East and West Germany would gradually become equal or come to resemble one another is a delusion. He identifies a lack of nuance in debates about the past, and argues that the forces of renewal unleashed by the Peaceful Revolution were stymied by the process of German unification. He does away with a number of misunderstandings, describes windows of opportunity for right-wing extremist forces, identifies a ›formal weakness in the civil society‹ of the former East, and diagnoses instances of ›wear and tear‹ in the fabric of democracy.«
Since 2009, NDR has been awarding its Non-Fiction Prize to the »best non-fiction book written in German that addresses issues that are relevant to the future«. From 125 submissions, the nomination committee put together an initial longlist, which has now been whittled down to the final three.
The NDR Non-Fiction Prize is endowed with €15,000, and this year’s winner will be announced on 7 November at a public event at the Sartorius-Campus in Göttingen.
Unity without Equality has been an absolute sensation in Germany, selling 70,000 copies so far, carrying on the success of Mau’s in-depth sociological study of political opinion in Germany, Trigger Points, which has been camped out on the Spiegel bestseller list since its release more than a year ago, with sales topping 55,000.
For more information on Unity without Equality, please contact the rights manager for your region.