Anne Frank: The Biography: Updated and Expanded with New Material

I read this book immediately after reading Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. This book did a great job of providing context for Anne's diary and for filling the gaps about life before and after hiding. I like that Muller begins with the day of the arrest, because of course when you read the diary you try to imagine what happened that day and how Anne and her family would have felt. The book also does a good job of placing many of Anne's comments and observations within the context of her age, and provides a more well-rounded view of her mother and the others who shared the annex. Although the events following the Franks' arrest were tragic, having my questions about that answered provided closure that was needed for me. Well done.

Great Book

The best historical information about Anne Frank that I have read. I thought the chapter that showed the slow but steady taking of specific rights from the Jewish residents was excellent in providing a picture of what was happening to them. I'd never read about what happened after Anne Frank and her family and friends went to concentration camps, so that was sad but historically interesting. Excellent book. I would recommend it to everyone!

I found the book interesting and detailed - sad at times, especially about how Anne passed and why. I've watched the film based on the book as well. Anne was only one person and there were many who had suffered from this ridiculous treatment of human beings. People are forgetting the fate of other people's genocide - ISIS or ISIL harms people for similar reasons and the world hasn't acted with serious countermeasures. These people are the new NAZI's. Try to see the similarity.

The author, Ms Muller, pieces together early parts of Anne's life (she was born in 1929) through letters and postcards sent by Anne to relatives, interviews with family members who survived the war, and access to museum archives. Her father lived over 30 years after the war. Several of Anne's friends are still alive as of 1/2014 ! There are sections that deal with Anne's thoughts about God, about her 10-12 yr old friends, about her kindred spirit with her father, about why relations with her mother were strained, about Peter Van Pels. There is background info on her parents family, which side was religious and which was not. There is even info on the last known contacts with Peter, Margo (older sister), and Anne - up to one month before she died in April 1945. I prefer this biography to the diary, because the flow form issue to issue is much smoother. There is section at the end of the book that deals with what became of many characters. The forward explains the author interest in writing about Anne. She is very humble and does not editorialize during her telling of Anne's story. It was a page-turner for me!

I first read this book in its original edition. The updating is much appreciated and there was a lot of new information that the author provided. Just for fun I "Google Earthed" several of the addresses in Frankfurt where the Frank family had lived before moving to Amsterdam. It was interesting to note that all but one of them had been "pixelated" out, I would suppose at the request of the owner. It is unfortunate that Miep Gies passed away--it has always been my suspicion that she and Otto Frank knew who their betrayer was and chose not to reveal it. Ms. Mueller implies such in this book. For those interested in the Diary and the story behind the story, this book is a must read. Numerous photographs from the Frank family in Switzerland are included.

Perfectly executed and heartbreaking in its thorough examination of what happened to the Frank family. Having read the diary I had always wondered about the community, how Otto Frank survived, the fates of their amazing helpers, particularly the gallant Miep Gies. This scholarly yet intensely readable volume provides all of this information and more.

Good biography and hiistorucal context

Totally loved the book. It fills in the holes and gaps that one is left with after reading Anne's diary and gives a complete portrayal of her family and upbringing. We come to learn about Otto and Edith in greater detail and how they intended to raise their kids, their family values and education. I highly recommend reading this book if you're into history and/or holocaust studies.