The Devil's Captain : Ernst Jünger in Nazi Paris, 1941-1944

Author of __Nazi Paris__, a Choice Academic Book of the Year, Allan Mitchell has researched a companion volume concerning the acclaimed and controversial German author Ernst Jünger who, if not the greatest German writer of the twentieth century, certainly was the most controversial. His service as a military officer during the occupation of Paris, where his principal duty was to mingle with French intellectuals such as Jean Cocteau and with visiting German celebrities like Martin Heidegger, was at the center of disputes concerning his career. Spending more than three years in the French capital, he regularly recorded in a journal revealing impressions of Parisian life and also managed to establish various meaningful social contacts, with the intriguing Sophie Ravoux for one. By focusing on this episode, the most important of Jünger’s adult life, the author brings to bear a wide reading of journals and correspondence to reveal Jünger’s professional and personal experience in wartime and thereafter. This new perspective on the war years adds significantly to our understanding of France's darkest hour. In this companion to his previous book, Nazi Paris, Mitchell recounts controversial German novelist Ernst Junger's years in Paris during the Nazi period. Junger was a military officer during Germany's occupation of Paris, and his journals and letters describe his daily impressions of the city and its intellectual elite. In addition to Junger's letters, diaries, and journal entries, the book draws on the essays Junger later wrote based on his journal entries. The structure of the book is chronological. The first two chapters introduce Junger as a young man and show how he came to be in Paris as a German army captain. The book then traces his footsteps around the city and his personal and professional contacts. It describes his brief experience in Soviet Russia in late 1942, his return to Paris, and his marginal involvement in an attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944. A postscript pieces together his intimate relationship with Parisian Sophie Ravoux. The book includes a wealth of b&w historical photos. Mitchell formerly taught at Smith College and the University of California-San Diego. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) "Author of Nazi Paris, a Choice Academic Book of the Year, Allan Mitchell has researched a companion volume concerning the acclaimed and controversial German author Ernst Junger who, if not the greatest German writer of the twentieth century, certainly was the most controversial. His service as a military officer during the occupation of Paris, where his principal duty was to mingle with French intellectuals such as Jean Cocteau and with visiting German celebrities like Martin Heidegger, was at the center of disputes concerning his career. Spending more than three years in the French capital, he regularly recorded in a journal revealing impressions of Parisian life and also managed to establish various meaningful social contacts, with the intriguing Sophie Ravoux for one. By focusing on this episode, the most important of Junger's adult life, the author brings to bear a wide reading of journals and correspondence to reveal Junger's professional and personal experience in wartime and thereafter. This new perspective on the war years adds significantly to our understanding of France's darkest hour."--Publisher description Contents Preface Introduction 1. The Loner 2. The Road to Paris 3. Man About Town 4. Dreaming and Musing 5. Strange Interlude 6. Kniébolo and the Nazis 7. The Plot Against Hitler 8. Telling Omissions 9. Immediate Afterthoughts 10. The Correspondent Postscript. Liebe Sophie Conclusion Abbreviations Notes Selected Bibliography Name Index Subject Index The loner The road to Paris Photograph section I Man about town Dreaming and musing Strange interlude Kniebolo and the Nazis Photograph section II The plot against Hitler Telling omissions Immediate afterthoughts The correspondent Photograph section III Postscript: Liebe Sophie.