A number of new titles hit the top of the bestseller lists in major European markets at the end of February. The first three fiction titles in Germany were new last month, but the book that caused the biggest stir was on the nonfiction list: the annotated edition of Mein Kampf landed at #2. Adolf Hitler’s manifesto had not been published in Germany since the end of World War II, because the Bavarian government owned the copyright and refused to allow anyone to print it. The copyright expired at the end of December, putting the book in the public domain. Under German law, the book can now be published by any party, provided it includes criticism of the original text.

The top-selling title in fiction in Germany was also a book that was originally written more than 60 years ago. The Defector by Siegfried Lenz—the late German novelist whose well-regarded books and short stories often had WWII themes—was written in 1951, but it had not been released until this year.

The three top-selling fiction titles in France at the end of February were new to the list, led by The Horizon Upside, the newest novel from Marc Levy. A children’s picture book was the top seller on the combined fiction and nonfiction in the Netherlands last month. The 65-Story Treehouse is the latest volume in the Treehouse series by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. Some earlier volumes have been released in the U.S. by Feiwel and Friends.

France

Fiction Nonfiction
1 L’horizon à l’envers
The Horizon Upside
Marc Levy
Robert Laffont
Vivez mieux et plus longtemps
Live Better and Longer
Michel Cymes
Stock
2 Trois jours et une vie
Three Days and a Life
Pierre Lemaitre
Albin Michel
Comédie française
Comédie française
Fabrice Luchini
Flammarion
3 On regrettera plus tard
We Will Regret Later
Agnès Ledig
Albin Michel
Le charme discret de l’intestin
The Discreet Charm of the Intestine
Giulia Enders
Actes Sud

For the week ended Feb. 29; used by arrangement with Livres Hebdo

Germany

Fiction Nonfiction
1 Der Überläufer
The Defector
Siegfried Lenz
HoCa
Das geheime Leben der Bäume
The Secret Life of Trees
Peter Wohlleben
Ludwig
2 Alles kein Zufall
No Accident at All
Elke Heidenreich
Hanser
Mein Kampf: Eine kritische Edition
Mein Kampf: A Critical Edition
Christian Hartmann, Thomas Vordermayer, and Othmar Plöckinger
Institut für Zeitgeschichte München-Berlin
3 Vom Ende der Einsamkeit
On the End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Diogenes
Der Appell des Dalai Lama an die Welt
An Appeal by the Dalai Lama to the World
Dalai Lama
Benevento

For the week ended Feb. 29; used by arrangement with Buchreport

The Netherlands

Combined Fiction and Nonfiction
1 De waanzinnige boomhut van 65 verdieping
The 65-Story Treehouse
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
Lannoo
4 Pluche
Plush
Femke Halsema
Ambo l Anthos
2 Gij nu
Thou Now
Griet Op de Beeck
Prometheusa
5 Pogingen iets van het leven te maken
Attempts to Make Something of Life
Hendrik Groen
Meulenhoff
3 De Amerikaanse prinses
The American Princess
Annejet van der Zijl
6 Ik reis alleen
I’m Traveling Alone
Samuel Bjørk
Luitingh-Sijthoff

For the week ended Feb. 29; used by arrangement with CPNB De Bestseller

United Kingdom

Nutrition coach Joe Wicks retains the #1 spot on the U.K. bestseller list for February with Lean in 15. At #2 is a decidedly less health-conscious title, Mary Berry’s Foolproof Baking. U.S. readers may remember her as a judge on the imported cooking competition show The Great British Baking Show and ABC’s The Great Holiday Baking Show.

Combined Fiction and Nonfiction

Rank Title Author Imprint Unit Sales Format
1 Lean in 15 Joe Wicks Bluebird 111,661 Paperback
2 Mary Berry: Foolproof Cooking Mary Berry BBC Books 77,906 Hardcover
3 How It Works: The Mum Jason Hazeley & Joel Morris Michael Joseph 45,233 Hardcover
4 The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Michael Mosley Short Books 42,984 Paperback
5 A God in Ruins Kate Atkinson Black Swan 42,883 Paperback
6 The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro Faber & Faber 37,179 Paperback
7 A Vintage Wedding Katie Fforde Arrow 34,859 Paperback
8 Deliciously Ella Every Day Ella Woodward Yellow Kite 34,808 Hardcover
9 The Stranger Harlan Coben Orion 33,412 Paperback
10 The Lie Tree Special Edition Frances Hardinge Macmillan 30,904 Paperback

Australia

Anthony Doerr hits #1 in Australia, up from #5 in January. Unit sales for his All the Light We Cannot See are up about 2,900 copies in February over the previous month. U.S. imports dominate the list, claiming every spot except #2, held by Rosalie Ham’s The Dressmaker, which is down a spot from January, when it topped the chart.

Combined Fiction and Nonfiction

Rank Title Author Imprint Unit Sales Format
1 All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Fourth Estate 12,029 Paperback
2 The Dressmaker Rosalie Ham Duffy and Snellgrove 11,406 Paperback
3 Blue Danielle Steel Bantam 11,127 Paperback
4 Brotherhood in Death J.D. Robb Piatkus 9,179 Paperback
5 Room Emma Donoghue Picador 6,846 Paperback
6 The Choice Nicholas Sparks Sphere 6,653 Paperback

New Zealand

Elementary, a true-crime book about a high-profile double-murder and the #1 bestselling title in New Zealand, got a publicity and sales boost when its author was threatened with a lawsuit by another author who had previously written about the case.

The book was pulled from one chain according to local news accounts.

Combined Fiction and Nonfiction

Rank Title Author Imprint Unit Sales Format
1 Elementary Ian Wishart Howling at the Moon 1,702 Paperback
2 Orphan X Gregg Hurwitz Michael Joseph 1,405 Paperback
3 Homemade Happiness Chelsea Winter Random House New Zealand 1,231 Paperback
4 The Official New Zealand Road Code 2015/16 Agency NZ Transport 834 Paperback
5 Blue Danielle Steel Bantam 791 Paperback
6 Brotherhood in Death J.D. Robb Piatkus 764 Paperback