Germans: The Biography of an Obsession

Growing up as an "Auslandsdeutscher" (German raised in foreign countries) I early on came to understand that NOBODY understands the "Germans," not foreigners with their cultural/ethnic/political biases (even if they are positively inclined), much less the Germans themselves with their "unbewaeltigte Vergangenheit" (unprocessed past).So, it was amazing to find that the person who got closest to the German essence, soul, substance, what you will, was someone who discovered the people in his adolescence and then pursued this interest into adult life. His view is loving and critical at the same time, as it should be. That he is of Celtic ancestry surely helped him in acquiring insight, because I have found tremendous parallels between the two peoples. 'Nuff said - I'll be accused of something....THIS BOOK SHOULD BE RE-ISSUED !!!...

I just re-read this book for the first time since I was living in Berlin, Germany (S.O. 36) through most of the 80's. (My copy of this book is a dog-eared Avon paperback, fallen to pieces and carefully saved by means of rubber bands.) Like the book's author, I am multi-lingual (German, Dutch, French, with some Spanish, Wolof and Eve). So, his attempt to get more understanding of Germans from the German language itself makes all the sense in the world to me. I also appreciate his notion of what he calls the "polyhistor." This is the only book in which I've seen this term. I recommend the book highly, but it is not easy reading (pleasurable, yes, but not easy). I doubt that I could get any of my engineering friends (I am also an engineer) to read it, because they wouldn't get the jokes. You almost have to have lived in Germany, as he did and I did, for it to make any sense.I wish this book were back in print, just as I wish Charles Beard's books were available. It repays the effort of reading it, something that can't be said of many books these days.

My father handed this to me when I left to live in Germany ten years ago. My entire experience of the country turned out to be colored by Bailey's mixture of autobiography and profound linguistic and historical knowledge. This man knows the peoples and history of Central Europe inside out, to a degree that one can only envy. The book veers back and forth: from tiny specific details of Bailey's own experiences in military intelligence in the Second World War (and his life in a German family afterwards), to sweeping views of what the German national character is and how it came to be. It's all written in a clear, vigorous style, sort of like George Orwell as a bon vivant. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject.