Centred around the boy of the title, Wolfram Aïchele, Giles Milton has reconstructed the true story of the life of a small German town, Pforzheim, during Hitler's rise to power and through the Second World War. The account follows Wolfram from his boyhood years to the commencement of his studies as a wood carver. Then at the age of eighteen his conscription into the German army, his eventual capture by the Allied Forces and his time as a POW. But the account contains much more than Wolfram's life under Hitler, there are records too of others who endured this period as reluctant citizens under the Nazi rule, some of whom were also conscripted in various roles. In fact Wolfram's experiences occupy only a part of this record.

This is a fascinating account and one which touches on an area not often considered, that of the position of the ordinary German citizen, including those who did not support Hitler, but nonetheless had little choice but to serve. It is not a glamorous tale, and while Wolfram's family and friends do their best to maintain their integrity, there are few heroics here, just otherwise decent people who try to make the best if a bad situation. Among other things it is a real reminder that in any war there are many young men who find themselves reluctantly in the front line facing adversaries who under different circumstance might be their friends.

What it does really highlight is that there are no winners here, there were atrocities perpetrated on all sides, it is easy to point the finger at where the worst of these occurred, but it really brings home that almost anyone put in a position of power over the helpless is capable of inhumanity.

It does not always make for easy reading, although Milton's rather detached narrative is at times clinical in its descriptions, which perhaps make it a little easier than it might be otherwise. However this detachment does prevent one from really coming to know the true characters, we never truly feel involved with them.

Milton bases his account on many hours of recorded interview with his now elderly father-in-law Wolfram. He also interviewed other family members along with friends and contemporaries from Pforzheim. While it shows the German side of the war from the perspective of just one family and a few friends, it is yet a remarkable record. It would be easy to pick holes, for example while it makes frequent mention of the internment of the Jews and a few dissenters, it makes little or no reference to the many thousands of others who Hitler put into concentration camps and murdered, minority groups and members of some other religions.

As one who grew up in the aftermath of WWII when all Germans were 'bad' I found this a very readable and interesting book, all the more so as like myself Wolfram is an artist who's interests lie far outside this otherwise materialistic and power hungry world. ( )