every journey begins with the first step and every language but the first word published in the book. is in germany to learn german why not play with him simple online on your mobile and free shop d w z e learning course nikos fake german from a to z. . welcome to arts twenty one today we check out the life sequel fair. it's. the event is held every spring it is really popular with the reading public because it's a point takes a lot of walking around to see and do everything but it's all really interesting. and there is celebrated writers lots of new releases and great literature from a mid-sized country the czech republic is the twenty one thousand likes the book

fairs country of honor just good luck i think it's great that people can discover all kinds of books here but they may not be familiar with us for so let's get lost in good books but first a brief for you of the state of publishing. no signs of gloom and doom at the leipzig book for despite the fact that a major german book wholesaler recently the clear bankruptcy turned over stagnant but this time the book fairs bigger and more international with an ever. counted is making its debut here with publishers from across the country and they've brought along books in a wide variety of genres. the

first time here i am stopping i like to think it's open to public so it's interesting to get to me that there are readers i think it's also the place where. the new book are really every year so it's good to be there and to feel the trends and. readers can meet their favorite authors and then like in frankfurt stock up on books. this publisher is trying to attract young readers with a selfie competition. serious note this year's book fair focuses on south eastern europe and the erosion of democracy and freedom of speech . germany's federal agency for civic education is sponsoring a series of discussions and book reading thirty years of change and young people then and now. a student you can mention do you not know what's happening with young people the ones who were born after nine hundred eighty nine who have no historical reference points except perhaps through their parents' generation are they

rebellious how are they dealing with responsibility. what are they thinking and feeling and what does europe mean to them before us the that is the only hope of. many of the new books at the fair deal with historical events and focus on contemporary issues the event offers a number of discussions with authors and experts. on the hot topic is the future of the book publishing industry itself. facing stiff competition from e-books books in demand and self published money scripts has been the prize for the best self published book since. last year monica from our won the prize for story. nobody wanted to publish it but now it's proving popular bar says self publishing offers a number of advantages. for me says i'm in china as i speak one major factor is the wide variety of topics that you can find in these kinds of books and that includes all sorts of marginal subject to. just as important but don't appeal to the

mainstream publishers to them instead of people that i've hired someone for example in my book i addressed the issue of sexual harassment. in my book only been a single moment i think it's extremely important to have a platform to initiate discussion bassinet just go through an. illicit fair shows that books and readers do still exist a recent study indicates that fewer people are buying books these days but those who do buy more. it's. one of the stars of this year's event is the outspoken russian american journalist and activist mushing gessen she has been awarded the twenty nine thousand leipsic book fair award for european understanding. these days people are lining up to interview matia guests and the author of the award winning work the future is history totalitarianism reclaimed russia.

it makes a provocative claim. that. russia's future is shaped by its past and you might say that about any country but what i mean specifically about russia is that. the seventy four years of to tell a turn as i'm shaped an entirely different society than what we have seen elsewhere in the world russia has not told a news story about its history and specifically the history of stalinist terror. stalin ruled the soviet union with an iron fist until one nine hundred fifty three but even today the dictator is celebrated as the one who helped defeat hitler stalin dreamed of a mighty empire but millions of russians lost their lives as a result something that often goes unmentioned. and so it's very hard to tell a story about it but without a story

a society is unable to move forward so the future is history both in the sense that it's determined by history and that it's. it's a history that hasn't been told and also in english the future is history also means the future is gone. russia presents itself as a modern country to the outside world yet the nation is deeply divided for her book mushy guess who conducted interviews with russian men and women who were born in the one nine hundred eighty s. and lived with an inner turmoil to this day. i wanted to look at that generation i wanted to look at people who grew up in the ninety's because i think it's a very specific condition that hasn't been described that the condition of being a child and in stream the unstable society they need to remember the collapse of the sage and when they were just seven years old they needed to be from different backgrounds from different cities but also different class backgrounds with

a different relationship to power i want to use them in the sense as a vehicle to understanding some of the politics both of the perestroika and of the ninety's. again since family immigrated to the us from the soviet union in the one nine hundred eighty s. jewish intellectuals who saw no future there. it was fourteen at the time ten years later she returned to moscow to work as a journalist. and the first time i went back to the soviet union was in march one thousand nine hundred one. when there were demonstrations in the streets of this giant it was racial about three hundred thousand people people were talking but old important things there was actually politics happening people were talking about what the relationship between the individual and the state should be. people were talking about how government and society should be constitutes.

an era of huge change the soviet union was coming to an end russia was about to embark on a new era with new leadership. for journalists and i think a person there's nothing more exciting than being able to witness that up close so i you know i was i was i was so drawn to that that i just wanted to stay and keep writing the story and for most of the ninety's i did for most of the ninety's i felt that every story i wrote was a new story no one had written before i mean that's that's an amazing thing for a journalist to experience. then after to mulches decade president yeltsin presented x. k.g.b. officer vladimir putin as the country's new prime minister he vowed to return russia to its former greatness critics were silenced in twenty eleven when thousands protested against an allegedly rigged parliamentary election mushy gessen was out on the front lines and had to leave russia as

a result i think it was my participation in the protests. and my being very out as a queer person i had been publicly out for many many years. and it had never been a problem until the kremlin launched its anti-gay campaign and one in twelve. then i suddenly became a problem and the reason i had to leave was because my family was directly threatens with the removal of my oldest son who's adopted from the family in two thousand and thirteen guests and her partner and their three children relocated to new york since then she has spoken out publicly about the team's hunger for power and the irony of history that the u.s. is now governed by a president who sees himself as a friend of putin however i mean there is no comparison right supposed to tell a country and the united states is is a weak and dysfunctional democracy those are vastly different systems.

i guess in this book focuses on russia under putin. it pulls no punches and now it is one of the twenty nine thousand lights the book fair award for european understand. twenty nine thousand is the year of big anniversary many are being celebrated in new books we turn the spotlight on three of our favorites. encounters with wild animals and exciting climbs up the sides of volcanoes it's all in a new illustrated account of alexander from home old south america expedition. author and revokes bookmarks the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of germany's famous you go for a naturalist and explorer the book was inspired by home plant samples sketches and

newly released passages from his daily journal. it was an amazing journey full of adventures and new discoveries both descriptions of his encounters with indigenous peoples are both vivid. and moving. home will describe the impact humans were already having on the environment and condemned slavery in cuba. lillian moshe provided the rich and detailed illustrations for folse new book. the iconic painting mona lisa remains a mystery to this day the artist leonardo da vinci died in fifteen nineteen. and has written a new biography of davinci describing him as a universal genius and an early supporter of women's emancipation. fallon

says davinci portrayed women who were intelligent and strong willed. for example ginevra to mention a fifteenth century intellectual. or this painting love benefit of a new year often called portrait of an unknown woman both proud and self-confident . she of holland's book portrays a uniquely talented artist who broke with tradition and developed new perspectives on women fought and the world in general. murder. on july twentieth one thousand nine hundred sixty nine astronauts landed on the moon for the first time. and it was a worldwide media sensation. to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the event

a new book on the history of nasa the u.s. space agency has hit the shelves it's called the nasa archives sixty years in space written by british science journalist and space historian peers be zoning. it includes hundreds of photographs and rare documents from nesses archives. the lavishly illustrated volume outlines the key role the u.s. space program plays in space technology. no nasa plans to send astronauts to mars perhaps as early as twenty thirty three. the next archives sixty years in space is a breathtaking trip through time and space.

this year's country of honor is the czech republic in the czechs have brought a lot of fine work along with them we talked to four featured writers before the big event. a majestic castle narrow alleyways numerous domes and talers and impressive bridges spanning the whole top of. prague is a dream with a millennium of history a city on the move in central europe. the true steps of the communist era is history now prague is a popular destination for tourists from across the globe. to raise a small tumble of our lives here the writer observes the hustle and bustle and the czech capital from an amused distance. go to could have a. visit that could have. split us obama.

is lucky. yeah city block that he doesn't. get. to raise or some automobile earns her living as a translator her first night. evillest the story of a young woman who's tried and failed to fit in once too often. hurt and disappointed she makes the radical decision to move into an old cupboard left in a courtyard. kuntar by undead and born and by there she could live with other people with her sister her girlfriend her family and. a village daughter on me but she doesn't want to be there and deal with other people. because she needs to deal with herself but i see a hundred. are going to be the same time she's somehow incapable of taking action

right now and can't afford her own apartment so the coverage gives her a bit of freedom in this provisional situation by height in their droves auditions it throughout so. she feels lost in a way which could perhaps only happen in the success driven consumer oriented western world it's a story that's honest as it is absurd. the one constant in the young protagonists life is a friendly vietnamese and he lets her use the washroom in a shop and gives her a smile and something to eat. this is more than a mere detail it's a nod to multiculturalism at a time when czech politicians often disparage the country's mutinies minority. is the czech republic xenophobia. in twenty fifteen at the height of europe's refugee crisis the country accepted under two hundred people from i'm a good move out soon is for my generation it's extremely painful to hear that the

czech republic refused to accept refugees. i didn't refuse to the government refused to i myself helped refugees to fix thing and got hold of me when i drove to hungary and took a good look at the situation. and i formed my own opinion. who get mocked she says of course people in the czech republic appreciate the material freedoms the opportunities to travel that they have now but she says many people's mindsets are slower to change some feel insecure and don't know how to handle freedom. does that worry her not in the least. a thing that he meant. i think people can see for themselves if they've elected the wrong politician. the villain the title as time goes on they notice ok maybe that wasn't so great. and that's progress mind sometimes you have to try things out before you realize that's

a bad apple i won't use one of those again so take me call from. prague castle is the city's landmark and houses the office of the czech president. the current president needless to say months pro china and pro russia stance has divided the country. in the ukraine conflict he sided with russia and in two thousand and fifteen he called the wave of refugees flooding into europe and organized invasion. yosh him total was shocked when simon was elected president he'd always fought for a truly free country both before ninety nine and after as a writer journalist and since twenty eleven as program director of the votes love hava libre. put this at the can history is like a huge pendulum with it's won as high to one side as possible now it's right at the bottom but i hope we'll reach the other side again this is. what czechoslovakia's last president and the first president of the czech republic after slovakia seceded

in one thousand nine hundred three a former dissident hovel was also a celebrated writer and a moral authority. he personally brought yosh in total to the bottom of hava library shortly before his death twenty eleventh's. kopel stayed on and continues to cure rate the library's cultural program as humble would have wanted. and he's kept on writing unusual novels his latest a sensitive person starts out as a rodent be about a family of artists but soon turns into a commentary on modern european society question are you know committee i'm too if i don't know this strange family is led by a father who is around my age of on and off so be it has to be he still has this desire to discover western europe the soviets. it is what this europe this mental image that he has no longer exists for his million on. the simple tool was instead he encounters an unfriendly europe full of social tension plagued by crises and

with a poor choice of migrants walking around you that will teach him a little where i am no one at the top of school. so he returns to his homeland with all of its awful scrap yards and bars it might not be the prettiest but at least it's good for the novel on top of the state award for literature in twenty seventeen and much public criticism. for august booming and now was among the ten richest regions in europe the days when people here fought for socialism with a human face a long time. it's easier to imagine franz kafka walking through the cities alleyways at the start of the twentieth century back then prague was a magnet for artists and authors writing in check and german as the city was still a part of the hapsburg empire. assembled us and others yes everything's also nice looking so picturesque in the

home but underneath the surface there are a few graves a few bodies lying buried on top of one another. and we have to live with these corpses these ghosts of the past and the hilly. the british studied. history and says to do that you need to know german otherwise he'd never have been able to conduct the research for his novel into bags of that stuff or vinterberg last journey it's a comical tribute to train travel central europe and life in general and rudisha wrote it in german. a month. when you look at the map of the railway routes in austria hungary in one nine hundred thirteen and compare it with a map of the routes in central europe today you can see how many are left. for what is it i'm told that's all of these routes this station where we are now and they all existed back then only as good as in this caption damaso alice. together with his melancholy geriatric nurse yon cross ninety nine year old once

a winter very embarks on a journey into the past taking his cue from a detailed guide book dating from one thousand nine hundred thirteen he's drawn ever deeper into the country sister and his on. the outskirts of from talking to some little non-central of us assumes that i won't again we chuckle slovak i'm stuck. on stuart's also some bloke months and one guy says i see only a scholar from all stuart's also some book runs and on the field such as the communists in kabul still sometimes up and go nuts and one of the afghans expedition the soviets come outside the former route for leader stands for talks talks it's like the. winter bird meanders through the course of history bringing the past to life in spite of these often sad events it's a sheer delight to be along for the ride.

in bernard a three hour train trip from prague people have been also reconciling the past helped along by cutting the two of us book the expulsion of. the also need to subscribe to the dixie cup or grab up an overstuffed. get them just come in on skype we call it it's go. live on ohio. could be a bully. it's not nice and who develops an ash upon a wall was an equally good model in supposing. just a just or just to support it i see the isa fluxion not just the globe on any pushout never did. burn it was the second largest city in the czech republic in one thousand ten it had one hundred twenty thousand residents eighty thousand spoke german as their mother tongue the rest were chaps they lived peacefully with one another until the nazis marched in. around eleven thousand jews from burnell fall

victim to the nazis and countless opponents of hitler's regime were tortured and executed. when i moved to my first flat then i every morning or every day passed around the sign which is on the old assad marisha glass and to go in the street and because i didn't know i think about the. german presence in my city i started to be interested in the why is this still in the story and what happened the other germans are there and the more. began researching and soon discovered that this was a taboo subject in one nine hundred forty five almost three million people most of the german population were driven out of the then czechoslovakia can burn out their expulsion was particularly violent during a deaf march as many as five thousand people lost their lives women children. and

the elderly cutter she spoke with a few of the survivors thanks to them i saw the history of czech history from absolutely different perspective and that's why i also found out that the during our education and i mean education of all children. but there was some. piece which wasn't discussed with me. and. i had story right there both to. the expulsion of. is a moving novel the truck full of facts it's received a lot of attention in the czech media burnell has been finding ways to remember the victims of the death march since one thousand nine hundred five and twenty fifteen the city issued a public apology. was novel as uncomfortable but like so many new books from the czech republic it's well worth the effort.

and that's all from march twenty one this time so until we meet again why not curl up with a good book. until then i'll feeders in from leipsic. for

an evening over millions. greet the assumed. indulge of each bowl. welcome tonight with the front man really focused from three iconic friends. sing your movie over the summer. it's fifty two minutes.

with different languages we fight for different things that's fine but we all speak up for freedom freedom of speech and freedom of press. giving freedom of choice global news that matters d. w. made for minds. what's the connection between bread power and the european union he knows. w correspondent at the baker can stretch this combined with the rules set by the team. stepping recipes for success strategy that make a difference. baking bread on d.w.

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play . this is the daily news live from berlin a self-proclaimed callous that crumbles in syria syrian rebel forces hoist their flag and goes after expelling the so-called islamic state from the last scrap of territory it's still held in the country also coming up. collusion or no collusion u.s. special counsel robert muller completes its probe into possible of russian interference into the twenty sixteen presidential election is reportedly not recommending any further charges.