Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
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Book Overview
The Baader-Meinhof Group--later known as the Red Army Faction (RAF)--was a violent urban guerilla group which terrorized Germany in the 1970s and '80s, killing 47 people, wounding 93, taking 162 hostages, and robbing 35 banks--all in an attempt to bring revolution to the Federal Republic.
Stefan Aust's masterful history of the Group presents the definitive account, capturing a highly complex story both accurately and colorfully. Much new information has surfaced since the mass suicide of the Groups' leaders in the 1980s. Some RAF members have come forward to testify in new investigations and formerly classified Stasi documents have been made public since the fall of the Berlin Wall, all contributing to a fuller picture of the RAF and the events surrounding their demise. Aust presents the complete history of the RAF, from the creation in 1970 to the breakup in 1998, incorporating all of the new information. For instance, there is growing evidence that the German secret service eavesdropped on Baader, Meinhof, and the other RAF members imprisoned in Stammheim and that they knew that the terrorists planned a mass suicide, but did nothing to prevent it. Also, there is new information about the role of the RAF lawyers (among them Otto Schily who later was Minister of the Interior in Gerhard Schroder's cabinet), and the roles of the different RAF members and the rivalry between them. The volume will also contain numerous photos.
Terrorism today is never far from most people's thoughts. Baader-Meinhof offers a gripping account of one of the most violent terrorist groups of the late twentieth century, in a compelling look at what they did, why they did it, and how they were brought to justice.
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Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsDetailed History of Germany's Post-War Domestic Terrorist Threat: Red Army Faction.
"Baader-Meinhof: The Inside Story of the RAF" is the latest edition of a work that Stefan Aust first published in 1985. He updated that book with new information in 1997 and again in this 2009 (2008 in Germany) edition, which incorporates new material gleaned from Stasi (MfS) files that came to light after the reunification of Germany. Aust played a minor role in the RAF drama himself. As a journalist in the 1970s (he is now...
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Rated 5 stars"Lack of proportion is barbarism"
For anyone alive in the 1970s and 80s the phrase "Baader-Meinhof Gang" has a certain ring to it. The particular melody might be terrorism for some, activism for others. At the time I was too young to understand what Baader-Meinhof stood for or purported to stand for and the press, at the time and later, never succeeded in putting their actions in context. Possibly because the press was too busy either demonizing or glamorizing...
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Rated 5 starsSix Against Sixty Million
When the Baader-Meinhof group declared war on the West German state in the 1970s--setting fire to department stores, robbing banks, setting off bombs, assassinating politicians, killing police officers, taking hostages, and kidnapping and murdering industrialist Hans-Martin Schleyer--German writer Heinrich Böll said they were six terrorists against sixty million West Germans. But they were more than six. At their height,...
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Rated 5 starsLet the Power Fall
Perhaps a forgotten piece of Cold War history, author Sefan Aust brings the notorious Baader-Meinhof group back into the spotlight with the meticulous exploration of the individuals and fellow travelers associated with the West German-based organization. Dubbed the "Red Army Faction," the group left a trail of blood and destruction in the 1970s and 1980s; killing at least 47 people and wounding 93, taking 162 hostages and...
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Rated 5 starsA solid, centrist, journalistic account of the events
This is the absolute best mainstream journalistic narration of events relating to the terrorist activities of the Baader-Meinhof group, the RAF, in the 1970s in (then West) Germany, which culminated in the suicides of the group's leadership and the unsuccessful hijacking of the Landshut. It similarly traces the ways in which West German policing and security measures changed in an attempt to come to terms with the terrorists,...
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