Overview
ThereĀ has always been a particularĀ fervorĀ aboutĀ Berlin, a combination ofĀ excitement,Ā anticipation, nervousness, andĀ a feeling of the unexpected.Ā Throughout history, it has been a city ofĀ tensions: geographical, political,Ā religious,Ā and artistic.
In the nineteenth-century, politicalĀ tension became acute between a city that was increasingly democratic, home toĀ MarxĀ andĀ Hegel, and oneĀ of the most autocraticĀ regimes in Europe. Artistic tension, between free thinking and liberalĀ movementsĀ started to find themselves in directĀ contention with the formal official culture.Ā Underlying all of this was the ethnic tensionābetween multi-racialĀ BerlinersĀ and theĀ Prussians. BerlinĀ may have beenĀ the capital of Prussia but it was never a Prussian city.
Then there is war.Ā Few European cities have suffered from war asĀ Berlin has over the centuries. It was sacked by the Hapsburg armies inĀ theĀ Thirty Years War; byĀ the Austrians and the Russians in the eighteenth century; by the French, withĀ great violence, in the early nineteenth century; byĀ theĀ RussiansĀ again inĀ 1945Ā and subsequently occupied,Ā more benignly, by theĀ AlliedĀ PowersĀ from 1945 until 1994.
Nor can many cities boast such a diverseĀ and controversial number of international figures:Ā Frederick the GreatĀ andĀ Bismarck;Ā Hegel andĀ Marx; Mahler, Dietrich, and Bowie. Authors Christopher Isherwood, BertoltĀ Brecht, and Thomas Mann gave Berlin a cultural history that is asĀ varied as itĀ was groundbreaking.
The story vividly told inĀ BerlinĀ also attempts to answerĀ to one of the greatest enigmas of the twentieth century: How could a people asĀ civilized, ordered, and religious as the Germans support first aĀ KaiserĀ and then theĀ NazisĀ in inflicting such miseryĀ on Europe? Berlin was never asĀ supportive of the Kaiser in 1914 as the rest ofĀ Germany; it was the revolution in Berlin in 1918 that lead to the Kaiser's abdication.Ā Nor was Berlin initially supportiveĀ of Hitler, being home to much of the opposition to the Nazis; althoughĀ paradoxically BerlinĀ suffered more than any other German city from Hitlerās travesties.Ā In revealing the often-untold history ofĀ Berlin,Ā Barney White-SpunnerĀ addresses thisĀ quixotic question that lies at the heart of Germanyās uniquely fascinating capitalĀ city.
This book title, Berlin (The Story of a City), ISBN: 9781643137223, by Barney White-Spunner, published by Pegasus Books (May 4, 2021) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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