A Wall Street Journal Standout Selection Book of 2009
Chosen as a Best Book of 2009 by Seattle Times readers
Excellent.
Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair
"Riveting."
Washington Post
In this comprehensive history of the group, German reporter Stefan Aust incorporates new information to present a full portrait of the group, based on testimonies by former group members to investigators and formerly classified Stasi documents.
Perspectives on Terrorism
"There has never been an account as authoritative, or as gripping, as 'Baader-Meinhof,' which has the advantage of being related by a journalist who was once so close to the action that the gang targeted him for death... a riveting portrait of the gang and its two leaders, Andreas and Ulrike Meinhof.... Mr. Aust tells the Baader-Meinhof story with journalistic care but also with an acute sense of drama... 'Baader-Meinhof" might seem an unlikely book to recommend
after all, it's about far-away and long-ago antiwar radicalism. But it is also a clear-eyed look at the inner workings of a group driven by violent fanaticism, and on that score Mr. Aust's indispensable work could not be more timely.Wall Street Journal
Meticulously researched.
Kurt Loder, MTV.com
"This is one of the best books I've read this year in any genre."
John Wilson, Christianity Today
Riveting.
Regina Weinreich
Aust writes about his subject with admirable dispassion and clarity and in exacting detail, tracking the cat-and-mouse movements between the group and the German police and its political leaders not just over several years, but down to the hour... one could not ask for a better guide to this story, and baring some significant new revelations, "Baader-Meinhof" is certain to be the final word on the subject.
The Seattle Times
Exhaustively detailing the group's exploits from 1970 until the prison suicides of the leaders in 1977, Aust offers fascinating insights into both the spectacular and the mundane aspects of life in a terrorist cadre. He also offers includes new information obtained from Stasi files released after Germany's reunification... this fast-paced account allows readers to peer into the minds of actors engaged in committing horrific acts of violence with the goal of advancing a political agenda
a timely subject in the age of global terrorism.Library Journal
Among Germany's many chronicles of its homegrown terrorists, Stefan Aust's 1985 600-page Baader-Meinhof Komplex stands out as the classic.... The 2008 reworked translation of Aust's book, Baader-Meinhof: The Inside Story of the R.A.F., provides English readers with the German Autumn story, updated with Aust's latest findings.
Washington Monthly