H E I N R I C H B OE L L (1917-85) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972. He was one of the most outspoken of literary figures, The Conscience of Germany if not the West, in speaking upon the hypocrisies of both denazification and the wonder of German economic recovery during the 1950s. A wounded soldier himself, Boell was a champion of individual rights over the authority of the State.

The year he won the Nobel Prize, there were also calls to revoke the award following Boell’s article in Der Spiegel in defense of the constitutional rights or a terrorist group.

Essays in this volume include:

Cause of Death: Hooked Nose In the Darkness My Uncle Fred The Postcard Murke’s Collected Silence Action Will Be Taken Bonn Diary When the War Broke Out When the War Was Over The Staech Affair Till Death Do Us Part Rendezvous with Margaret In Defense of Washtubs The Freedom of Art Individual Human Dignity Nobel Prize Acceptance Undine’s Mighty Father My Father’s Cough In Defense of Rubble Lite This Type of Cheap Propaganda