Few others have determined our understanding of the Third Reich as Joachim Fest. Fierce and intransigent, German born Fest was a relentless interrogator of his nation's modern history. His analysis, The Face of the Third Reich, his biographies of Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer and his descriptions of the last days in the Fuehrer's bunker have all reached a worldwide audience of millions - but how did he, the contemporary historian born in 1926 - personally experience National Socialism, the Second World War and a defeated Germany? In this autobiography of his childhood and youth, Joachim Fest chronicles his own extraordinary life, providing an intimate picture of his immediate experiences of those dark years of conflict. Whether describing his Catholic home in a Berlin suburb, his father's early working ban, his own expulsion from school - or 'Aunt Dolly's' introductions to the operatic world, the precocious wisdoms of his elder brother, his readings during his military service or his 7-day flight in a wooden box from imprisonment by the Americans - these are the long-awaited personal reflections of a born observer.