“In five brief, compelling case studies, Nina Berman offers nothing less than a new way of talking about German engagement in Africa.”—William Glenn Gray, German Studies Review
“Berman’s study offers pleasant, stimulating, and always interesting reading. She brings originality because she proposes a common vision for different discourses and genres, and across several historical periods.”—Janos Riesz, Research in African Literatures
“Berman’s account of impossible German missions to Africa no doubt is an important contribution to the emerging field of German postcolonial studies, not only pointing to neglected aspects of this experience but also showing how shifting perspectives can offer new insights into well-studied topics.”—Fatima El-Tayeb, Monatshefte
"[A] well-written and well-researched book."—Central European History
“With the publication of Impossible Missions, Berman solidifies her reputation as an assiduous documenter and keen critic of the diversity of German cultural and textual encounters with the non-Western world. . . . It is in the textual analysis, however, where Berman’s approach really shiens. Because the case studies are carefully chosen with an eye to the rich layers of meaning that complicate the eventual outcomes of the individual German-African encounters documented, each chapter makes for extremely rewarding reading.”—Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History
"Berman's book brings together a wealth of information and argument, and as such represents a powerfully argued analysis of issues with considerable importance to our globalizing world."—Daniel T. Bullard, H-German.net
