From acclaimed historian Katja Hoyer comes a gripping story of life during the rise and reign of Hitler, through the eyes of the people of Weimar. This ancient town nestled in the heart of Germany was home to some of Europe's greatest thinkers, Goethe and Schiller, Liszt and Nietzsche among them. It gave its name to the ambitious Weimar Republic crafted in the aftermath of WWI. But it was also where fascism took hold. Where Bauhaus architects first experimented with new ways of living, Buchenwald was dug out of a beech forest. As the promise of democracy gave way to dictatorship, the people of Weimar were swept up by the events of history, becoming witnesses, perpetrators, victims and bystanders – a town that dreamt of a better world, and woke up to tyranny. Chaired by Clare Clark . There will be a book signing after this event. Get ahead of your Festival reading and visit the Waterstones Cheltenham Literature Festival bookshop and support Cheltenham Festivals with every purchase.

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