The Nuremberg Women

An Instant USA Today Bestseller!
An Instant Sunday Times Bestseller!

"Livingstone’s deeply researched, unfailingly fascinating book gives the many extraordinary women at or near the centre of the Nuremberg trials their proper, important, and often ignored place in history" —Salman Rushdie

Bestselling author and historian Natalie Livingstone tells the story of the Nuremberg trials in a new way: through the lens of the women who were there on the ground.

In November 1945, the eyes of the world turned to Nuremberg. Humanity was seeking not only the truth about Nazi crimes but also a vision of what justice might look like in their aftermath. The trials are traditionally associated with a roll call of famous men, but they were only part of the story. Not only were there women involved in the trial in every role—as journalists, researchers, lawyers, interpreters, court reporters, witnesses, artists, and even defendants—but they were pivotal in the trial’s outcome.

The Nuremberg Women tells the story of eight women: a brilliant American lawyer, three pioneering journalists, two German, one British, an iconoclastic artist, a beautiful refugee aristocrat, a dauntless survivor of Auschwitz, and a young Russian translator.

From the major stories about justice, gender, and politics at a pivotal moment in the twentieth century to the smaller, daily intimate tales of the women’s affairs and bar-room disputes, The Nuremberg Women shows the most famous trial of the twentieth century in a new light—making a brave new case for it having been a more diverse and democratic exercise than has often been recognized.

They reveal a Nuremberg that is more intimate, human, and haphazard; one that was lower paid and less publicized. They demonstrate that the trial was remarkable not because it was perfect but because, against all odds, it happened. Thanks to these women and many others, justice was served.