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Deutscher Sachbuchpreis 2022

German Non-Fiction Prize 2022

The German Non-Fiction Prize is awarded to an outstanding non-fiction book written in German that inspires social debate. 

“The eight nominated books open up spaces that are worth entering, revealing not prefabricated truths, but suggestions for deepening our thinking and tolerating contradictions – suggestions that allow us to look at the world a little differently.” (the jury on this year’s selection) 

For the second time, the Foundation for Book Culture and the Promotion of Reading of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association awards the German Non-Fiction Prize to an outstanding non-fiction book written in German that inspires social debate.  

The non-fiction book of the year is selected through a two-stage process. First, the jury compiles a list of nominations comprising eight titles. From this selection, the members of the jury then choose the non-fiction book of the year, which is announced in Berlin on 30 May 2022. 

German Non-Fiction Prize 

Single title

Am Rande der Glückseligkeit

Am Rande der Glückseligkeit. Über den Strand (On the Edge of Happiness. On Beaches)

Bettina Baltschev begins her journey to Europe’s beaches on a beach on the North Sea. Starting from eight beaches in...

Bettina Baltschev begins her journey to Europe’s beaches on a beach on the North Sea. Starting from eight beaches in eight countries, she goes on excursions into the present and into the history of places of yearning that, for some, are a last resort. She writes of true and fictitonal, happy and tragic fates on beaches – on the edge of our world. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-946334-85-9
Author:
Bettina Baltschev
Pages:
280
Price:
€ 25.00
Die Frauen von Belarus

Die Frauen von Belarus. Von Revolution, Mut und dem Drang nach Freiheit

(The Women of Belarus. On Revolution, Courage and the Pursuit of Freedom)

Peaceful demonstrators in Belarus defied the violent regime. Alice Bota tells the stories of the three leading protagonists, who became...

Peaceful demonstrators in Belarus defied the violent regime. Alice Bota tells the stories of the three leading protagonists, who became politicians against their will: Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and Veronika Zepkalo. A portrait of an uprising. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-8270-1442-9
Author:
Alice Bota
Pages:
240
Price:
€ 18.00
Das Deutsch Russische Jahrhundert

Das deutsch-russische Jahrhundert. Geschichte einer besonderen Beziehung

(The German-Russian Epoch. History of a Special Relationship)

German-Russian relations – in all their ambivalence, contradictoriness and violence – played a key role in the 20th century. Stefan...

German-Russian relations – in all their ambivalence, contradictoriness and violence – played a key role in the 20th century. Stefan Creuzberger tells the story of this tense relationship in an era marked by dramatic turning points, interconnections and change.  

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-498-04703-0
Author:
Stefan Creuzberger
Pages:
512
Price:
€ 34.00
Erzählende Affen

Erzählende Affen. Mythen, Lügen, Utopien – wie Geschichten unser Leben bestimmen

(Narrating Monkeys. Myths, Lies, Utopias – How Stories Determine Our Lives)

A powerful story can save the world – or destroy it. It can decide elections, save lives, but also start...

A powerful story can save the world – or destroy it. It can decide elections, save lives, but also start wars and entrench injustice. Based on influential narratives from antiquity to the present, Samira El Ouassil and Friedemann Karig trace this ambivalent power – and show which stories are dangerous to us today and why we need new ones. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-550-20167-7
Author:
Samira El Ouassil & Friedemann Karig
Pages:
528
Price:
€ 25.00
Das rationale Tier

Das rationale Tier. Eine kognitionsbiologische Spurensuche

(The Rational Animal. A Search for Clues in Cognitive Biology)

Can we grant non-human beings rationality and consciousness? Ludwig Huber takes stock of the current state of research on animal...

Can we grant non-human beings rationality and consciousness? Ludwig Huber takes stock of the current state of research on animal thinking and, drawing on the most significant experiments and observations, explains what animals can do. These new scientific findings compel us to reconsider our current attitude towards animals. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-518-58771-3
Author:
Ludwig Huber
Pages:
671
Price:
€ 34.00
Die Hohenzoller und die Nazis

Die Hohenzollern und die Nazis. Geschichte einer Kollaboration

(The Hohenzollern and the Nazis. History of a Collaboration)

For over 100 years, the “heads” of the Hohenzollern family have worked repeatedly with lawyers, journalists and PR consultants to...

For over 100 years, the “heads” of the Hohenzollern family have worked repeatedly with lawyers, journalists and PR consultants to burnish the family’s public image. Stephan Malinowski analyses these curated self-presentations in a historical narrative that spans three generations, up to the present day. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-549-10029-5
Author:
Stephan Malinowski
Pages:
752
Price:
€ 35.00
Die Sortiermaschine

Sortiermaschinen. Die Neuerfindung der Grenze im 21. Jahrhundert

(Sorting Machines. Reinventing Borders in the 21st Century)

In recent years, deep cracks have appeared in the cosmopolitan dream of a borderless world. But was it ever realistic...

In recent years, deep cracks have appeared in the cosmopolitan dream of a borderless world. But was it ever realistic in the first place? Steffen Mau shows that, from the outset of the age of globalisation, borders have not been more open but transformed into powerful sorting machines instead. While a small circle of privileged people is able to travel almost anywhere today, the vast majority of the world’s population continues to be systematically excluded. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-406-77570-3
Author:
Steffen Mau
Pages:
189
Price:
€ 14.95
Fluchtpunkte der Erinnerung

Fluchtpunkte der Erinnerung. Über die Gegenwart von Holocaust und Kolonialismus

(Vanishing Points of Memory. Holocaust and Colonialism in the Present)

What distinguishes racism from anti-Semitism? Is it possible to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and of colonialism without relativising...

What distinguishes racism from anti-Semitism? Is it possible to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and of colonialism without relativising history? In the work of Hannah Arendt, Edward Said and others, Natan Sznaider finds ideas and arguments to advance the debate on the relationship between colonial crimes and the Holocaust. 

Publisher:
ISBN:
978-3-446-27296-5
Author:
Natan Sznaider
Pages:
256
Price:
€ 24.00
Date:
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