Daniel Cowling talks to Spencer Mizen about the British occupation of Germany from 1945-49, and describes how the young officials tasked with rebuilding a broken nation navigated acute privation, a traumatised population and scepticism among their compatriots back home to help set Germany on the road to democracy.

(Ad) Daniel Cowling is the author of Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans: The British Occupation of Germany, 1945-49 (Apollo, 2023). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Lets-Beastly-Germans-Occupation/dp/1800243502/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty

The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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