Reviewed by: Lebenserwartungen in Deutschland, Norwegen, und Schweden im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert Lutz D. H. Sauerteig Arthur E. Imhof, ed. Lebenserwartungen in Deutschland, Norwegen, und Schweden im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1994. 725 pp. Tables, figures. DM 154.00. With this volume, Imhof closes the last gap of his exhaustive government-funded research project on mortality in Germany. Along with Imhof’s other work, Lebenserwartungen in Deutschland vom 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert (1990), we now have a detailed, meticulously prepared set of statistical data on the changes in mortality starting in the seventeenth century. As with the first volume, this volume includes a detailed appendix (pp. 365–663) containing cohort and period life tables and graphs that summarize the mortality experience of the population according to gender. Norway and Sweden, the best-documented examples for this period of time, have been included for the sake of comparison in order to be able to assess mortality in Germany, and both countries are also thoroughly documented in the appendix. The goal of this interdisciplinary research project cannot be reduced to a mere compilation of figures, although this in itself was an immense task. Imhof, a historian and demographer from Berlin, was interested in more. Because the average life expectancy at birth has doubled in Germany since the mid-nineteenth century (in 1985 it was 74.6 years, being somewhat lower for men and somewhat higher for women), Imhof intends to sensitize us to the fact that we should plan our lifestyle differently. Hence, he is not so much interested in the reasons for the extended life span as he is in the consequences resulting from this fact. Those of us today who are under 60 years of age can expect to have a long life right from the start of our lives, even if there is no guarantee as such for longevity: “We are among the very first to be able to live our lives from the end, so [End Page 548] to speak” (p. 15). Life has become calculable for us. Today, we must consume twice as much free time as our ancestors did around 1900: they were able to devote only 25 percent of their lifetime budget to leisure activities, while we now have 46 percent at our disposal (p. 83). Therefore, it is worthwhile to invest in this life, be it intellectually, mentally, physically, or economically. However, it is important to take the strengths as well as the weaknesses of any age into consideration, for the older we become, the greater the likelihood that we will become unable to get around, or even bedridden. Apart from these considerations, which Imhof expresses in detail in his introduction and illustrates with self-explanatory graphs (pp. 24–116), the book contains descriptions of the areas examined. While Øivind Larsen and Anders Brändström (et al.) have managed to illustrate the basic sociocultural and historical conditions that are significant for population growth and the increase in mortality in Norway and Sweden in only a few pages, Eva Wedel-Schaper fills more than 130 pages discussing German history from 1871 until today. In the latter case, less would have been more: many of the details furnished by Wedel-Schaper give rise to the question of their direct connection to demographic growth. A good deal of the information she provides can be found in the excellent surveys on German history written by eminent German historians like the late Th. Nipperdey, H.-U. Wehler, H. and W. J. Mommsen, and H. Weber and R. Morsey, to mention just a few. We can only wish that Imhof’s thrillingly written introductory essay will find readers outside the narrow circle of experts. The extensive data given in the appendix are currently the most exhaustive of their kind concerning Germany’s demographic trend in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Lutz D. H. Sauerteig Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany Copyright © 1996 The Johns Hopkins University Press