Guilt about the Past explores the phenomenon of guilt and how it attaches to a whole society, not only to individual perpetrators. It considers how to use the lesson of history to motivate individual moral behavior, how to reconcile a guilt-laden past, and the role of law in this process. Based on the Weidenfeld Lectures author Bernhard Schlink delivered at Oxford University, Guilt about the Past is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how events of the past can affect a nation's future. Written in Schlink's eloquent but accessible style, these essays tap in to the worldwide interest in the aftermath of war and how to forgive and reconcile the various legacies of the past.