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Forgotten Fatherland

The search for Elisabeth Nietzsche

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Forgotten Fatherland

By: Ben Macintyre
Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
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About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents Forgotten Fatherland, written and read by Ben Macintyre

'Startling, dark and absorbing' Independent
'Excellent travel writing: vivid, sympathetic, humorous' Guardian
'Fascinating, provocative and highly eccentric' New York Times
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In 1886 Elisabeth Nietzsche, the philosopher Friedrich's bigoted, imperious sister, founded a 'racially pure' colony in Paraguay together with a band of blond-haired fellow Germans. Over a century later, Ben Macintyre sought out the survivors of Nueva Germania to discover the remains of this bizarre colony.

Forgotten Fatherland vividly recounts his arduous adventure locating the survivors, while also tracing the colorful history of Elisabeth's return to Europe, where she inspired the mythical cult of her brother's philosophy and later became a mentor to Hitler. Brilliantly researched and mordantly funny, this is an illuminating portrait of a forgotten people and of a woman whose deep influence on the twentieth century can only now be fully understood.©2025 Ben Macintyre (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Business Communication Career Success Historical Women Funny Witty Imperialism Middle Ages Latin American Africa

Critic reviews

'Macintyre's journey to rediscover Nueva Germania deep in the Paraguayan forest and his descriptions of what he found, make compelling reading. But more fascinating still is the story Macintyre interleaves with his discovery, that of Elisabeth's own life and her deliberate distortions of her brother's philosophy to make it accord with her own' (Julia Neuberger)

'Remarkable and entertaining ... Macintyre weaves the many threads together with considerable literary skill, jumping backwards and forwards between Paraguayan past and present, between the Germany of Bismarck and of Hitler ... a parade of exotic figures and tall tales inhabit the story' (Richard Overy)
All stars
Most relevant
A story I’d never heard of and great to have the personal adventure side of Ben as part of the narrative. Excellent voice recording as always by Ben as well.

Another Ben Macintyre triumph

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The subject matter was previously unfamiliar to me and, as the book unfolded, I was fascinated to learn all I could about this odd set of events and how they fit into history. As always, Ben McIntyre's narration and tone of voice make it a 'comfortable' listen despite some of the content being less than comfortable. There were times when I felt the account of his own travel there made things a little disjointed and broke the flow a bit, but in the end, I suppose it meant the descriptions of the geography were first-hand and authentic. Highly recommended!

Excellent

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As always, Macintyre presents a masterfully succinct and insightful conclusion. It reveals the unscientific basis of racism, suggesting that racist breeding results in the opposite of what is desired. Humans are meant to mix and mingle; they weaken and perish when isolated. Brilliant!

Superb analysis

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I'm a huge fan of Macintyre, who often sustains several different threads, keeping us absorbed in all of them - as in The Siege or A Spy Among Friends. He's also a brilliant reader of his own work. This book is interesting and informative - great to see an 'awful, in both senses' woman exposed in a serious way. But, but, but.... it does not have his usual laser focus on the central story. There's a long section about the author's own journey to Nueva Germania, the German colony founded by Elizabeth Nietzsche and her husband. It certainly displays the humour which is an endearing feature of all his books, and perhaps he wanted to exercise that - but it's told in a different register and doesn't sit well within the whole. It feels as if it's been shoehorned into a different narrative, as if he couldn't bear to drop this anecdotal account. It is dropped entirely as the writer returns to the main story - and here his sense of the absurd is engaging as ever, and used in the service of an illuminating account.

An unequal pleasure

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