The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany

The latest addition to the outstanding "Cambridge Illustrated History" series, Martin Kitchen's Germany presents a lavishly illustrated, integrated, chronological history of Germany from the era of Charlemagne down through the end of the twentieth century and German reunification. Here is a compendium of the culture, society, political organization, national tragedies and personal triumphs of the German people. Special illustrated boxes and panels enrich the informative, "reader friendly" text throughout and provides a superbly presented, single volume history that is a welcome addition to academic and community library world history collections.

This text should not be demoted to decorating a living room's coffee table because of its "Cambridge" denomination and fancy pictures. Some of these "decoration" books do contain excellent write ups. Ignoring Mr. Kitchen's dissertation on the history of Germany would be at your own peril if you own the book already and, except for martini stains and dust, choose to ignore it. This history of Germany explains in a fascinatingly succint style key aspects of the German nation and German ethos: the Holy Roman Empire, the Hanseatic League, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution and, inevitably, the Third Reich and the Holocaust. There are excellent art and culture sections describing anything from Goethe's Romantic world and the Grimm Brothers' fantastic tales to the Bauhaus. If you want to own a book to impress your friends, buy it, but buy it mostly to be impressed by it.

I had to use this book for a class on German history. Although it was not required material for the class, the wealth of information helped me keep a handle of the flow of the nation's history. This book is rich in pictures and is one of the best books that I have ever seen on German history. Highly recomended.