The Uprooted

"Overwhelming. . . . This historian has made use of sources that are normally not taken into account. As a result, the text evokes an unsettling vividness."- Augsburger Allgemeine (on the German edition)

"One cannot praise Kossert's book enough. It is empathetic and intelligent, with a clearly visible viewpoint." - Süddeutsche Zeitung (on the German edition)

"Displacement and pursuit of refuge are issues as old as human civilization. Both are also defining and disruptive for contemporary politics. And the best place to start grasping the connections between age-old problems and present predicaments is Andeas Kossert's The Uprooted. Kossert weaves together moving narratives, conceptual clarifications, and deeper analyses, though the last are always worn lightly and human experience foregrounded. Germany is at the center of his story, as both a country of uprooting and a host to many more recently uprooted. More examples come from the rest of Europe and the Near East. What it means to belong is addressed as well as what it means to flee. But in the end the main point of this compelling book is the historical ubiquity of refugees and, sadly, of limits on sympathy and hospitality. Well-written, well-translated, and very well-worth reading." - Craig Calhoun, University Professor of social sciences at Arizona State University

"The plight of the refugee is timeless, even if it always confronts us in new historical permutations. In this brilliantly written and important book about displacement and flight, Andreas Kossert captures both dimensions. The result is a compelling portrait of a raw human drama that is as old as history itself and yet always contemporary. Kossert charts the contours of a mass phenomenon, but at the center of his pioneering study are individual refugees, their voices and destinies. This is a book for our times." - Christopher Clark, author of Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947

"The Uprooted makes a huge contribution to our understanding of 'the' refugees. By listening to many different voices who have undergone the rigors of displacement and the calamity of exile, Kossert alerts us to both the peculiarities and the universality of the refugee experience. The prose is gripping and the translation compelling. Essential reading for anyone interested in the refugees and their loss. - John Torpey, author of The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship, and the State