Germany Books

The author makes a large number of observations about what is happening and how it is done. This is along with the historical recording of events. These observations have stood the test of time. They explain the German's rapid success in the early years.

This is a great book and a terrific read. Originally published in 1941 by William L. Shirer, who worked in Berlin during the war with Edward R. Murrow and the radio team of Columbia Broadcasting System, it went on to sell almost 350,000 copies by August and remained at the top of the best-seller-list until after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Shirer worked in Berlin at a time when all of the world got its news through foreign correspondents writing in newspapers. Later, he made the leap to CBS and radio to work with the legendary Edward Murrow. The two captivated all of America with their radio broadcasts from Berlin and Europe as the war unfolded.

"Berlin Diary" offers unparalleled insights into Hitler's Germany by an intelligent and talented news correspondent writing as events unfolded. Shirer was quick to learn that German Army reports on the fighting in the opening years of the war were usually frank and accurate, while those of the German Navy and especially the Air Force were not. Afforded regular access to Adolph Hitler he ponders later in the book on how easy it would have been to assassinate the German leader And he provides first-hand descriptions of Nazi leaders such as Rudolph Hess, Hermann Goering, and especially Joseph Goebbels, who most of the foreign news correspondents detested.

Shirer also describes the tremendous effect the British bombing of Berlin in the early days of the war, even by small groups of Royal Air Force bombers, had on the population, depriving them of sleep and forcing the German war industry to lose valuable hours of production time. The author notes that if the British had sustained the bombing campaign and sent over even more bombers, the pressure on Hitler and the Nazis to end the war might have been tremendous.

"Berlin Diary" is also a tribute to Shirer's analytical talents and his ability to piece together what is actually happening or will happen next in the war is uncanny. He is quick, for example, to find out about the Nazi extermination of those who are mentally retarted or otherwise physically incapacitated throughout Germany, a move resisted by many Germans. Of course, it is clear that the author had a wide network of contacts, who kept him informed as to developments in the Third Reich. Indeed, Shirer shows that resistance to Hitler and the Nazis early in the war, both passive and active, was at a much higher level than was generally appreciated abroad, both during the war and even after it.

"Berlin Diary" is a tribute to an incredibly talented individual and to all civilian war correspondents, who lived dangerous lives in a dangerous regime to bring the news to the world. Shirer's reporting showed America the threat Hitler posed to free countries everywhere and no doubt played a role in President Roosevelt's decision to get involved in the war.

This book was great! The eating recommendations were excellent. I was able to travel around Berlin easily and map out what to do and what to see. This is the only book you need for Berlin.

The best part of this book are the five walking tours (with maps). There's a Berlin Wall Walk along the former Berlin Wall, two walks in former East Berlin and two walks in former West Berlin. These walks are a great way to get to know this great city.

If you must have only one book on Berlin, this is it. Few cities have experienced the massive upheaval that Berlin has, and trying to compare and understand the pre-World War II city with that of today is often a frustrating labyrinth. Mark McGee's book offers clarity. While other books have a similar before/after format, McGee does it with greater clarity, superior images, and with a lively and informative text. I like that individual buildings are given a distinct section, as opposed to being scattered throughout. McGee's text offers plenty of pertinent information, as well as trenchant architectural criticism, and odd asides that are greatly enjoyable (commenting on the Potsdam rail station, McGee notes that the old graveyard in front of the station was paved over after the lease on the last grave expired). Yes, this book is a must for any reader interested in the architecture and urban planning of a unique city. All that is missing is a map highlighting the location of buildings detailed.

Mark R. McGee has assembled an impressive collection of photographs to demonstrate the changes that have occurred in twentieth-century Berlin. Any student of history will be interested to see the minute details captured in these images. The texts included with each sequence of photographs flesh out the history of this fascinating city.

Hi! I am an eigth grader and am currently doing a Holocaust anthology project. I have used this book as one of my short stories. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone interested in the Holocaust or is doing a project. This book helped me learn how courageous Jews were and how much they were dedicated to their religion. It also taught me to value the friendships I have today. In conclusion, Best Friends is a great Holocaust book. It can teach you a lot. I would reccomend this book highly to anyone learning or teaching about the Holocaust. I really enjoyed reading it and hope you will to!! : )

I am a second grade teacher and I love to use this book to teach about the Holocaust. It is an exceptional tool in teaching all children. The book offers excellent lessons from which we all can learn.

This is a work which, if you like solid history, you should read. It tells of the momentous things going on in Europe in the 19th century which are illuminated by this excellent work

Otto Pflanze's book describes how Bismarck manipulated domestic and international politics to unify Germany.
This book, ending in 1871 at the end of the first phase of Bismarck's career is the first of three volumes. The book begins by showing how idealists and romantics tried and failed to unite Germany, but Bismarck was a realist and based his methods on the strengths and weaknesses of individuals.

First Bismarck used cunning diplomacy to isolate the Austria, Prussia's rival for control of the German states. The Franco Austrian war demonstrated Austria's weakness, and increased worries among northern Germans about French strength. This improved Prussia's hand, and later Bismarck's hand.

Pflanze follows Bismarck's tactics step by step through his labyrinthine maneuvers as he
played France against Austria during the Schleswig Holstein situation Bismarck wanted to separate Austria from the German confederation and inspire the northern German states to unite into a Northern German confederation.

After Bismarck unified northern Germany he designed the constitution to allow him to play the Reichstag against the Prussian chamber of deputies. There was also a balance of power between the state and confederate governments. We also see domestic political and economic background to Bismarck's actions. Pflanze shows the domestic politics after Bismarck created the northern German confederation.

Bismarck used relations with France to make advances toward the southern German states. Pflanze carefully shows how Bismarck cleverly tried to use the Luxemburg crisis to woo the southern German states. But the southern German states were afraid of being overwhelmed by Prussia. The only thing that the southern German states admired about the northern German confederation was the Prussian military expertise.

Relations between France and Prussia worsened when the throne of Spain was offered to a Hohenzollern Kaiser William did not care if any of his relatives got the Spanish throne or not. But when Bismarck made it seem that the French had demanded that Kaiser William renounce any attention in the Spanish throne, he angrily refused. The nationalist French responded by declaring war.

Bismarck wanted a war with France to inspire the southern Germans to join the northern confederation against the threat of France. In this he succeeded. But nationalist anger of many, and political reasons of Bismarck caused Germany to annex Alsace Lorraine, which resulted in permanent hatred from France.
The only faults of this book are that Pflanze should have described the people more. He also should have included more maps and a bibliography.

I have just finished reading this book and the preceding two volumes. This is very solid work, and if you appreciate, as I do, feeling that an author has done good and careful research you will like these volumes. I have concluded that to really understand the Hitler period one must learn more about the 19th century in Germany. It seems to me that Bismarck, by his brilliant defense of autocratic rule in Germany, helped make Hitler possible. The footnotes in these volumes are where they are supposed to be--at the foot of each page--but it is regrettable that there is no bibliography as such.

This three volume biography (this is vol III)on Bismarck is the definitive work on the man. Pflanze is unsurpassed by other lesser biographers on this subject. If you want to learn about Bismarck these three volumes are what to read.

This is a one of the best fact books about the German SS.
The author did a huge research going through personnel records of SS officers in Berlin document center back in the sixties.
A very useful reference matter with interesting structure diagrams, maps and notes is included in this original first edition.
The book is a fantastic reference for people like me with a genuine interest in the terms and structure about the different branches of the complex organization SS.

If you're looking for a general informative and illustrated easy to read book about the German SS, this is not the one.

This book is a great portrail of the hierarchy of the Nazi's dreaded SS. The author goes far beyond the concentration camp guards and explains the feeble begining as a SA battalion into one of the greatest fighting and guard units inside of Hitler's Geermany. This book shows how Himmler came into the the lime life of Germany and how his forces were what helped keep Hitler in power. The author does not portray the SS as a evil force but, instead he shows that these men were men and not monsters that were only doing what they were told to do by both Hitler and Himmler. As the SS grew out of the SA, and later totally replaced the SA, it came to control the police and a large piece of the German Wehrmacht. Thus giving Himmler unbelievable powers to do what he felt was for the good of Nazi controlled Germany. If you are looking for a book filled with pictures you will not enjoy this book because it is mostly a fact filled book that explains everything about the extremely complicated Nazi SS.

If these delectable guides' plentiful pix don't get you drooling to explore, you need to get your salivary glands checked. The text is also noteworthy. (NY Daily News)

One of the best travel book series, with attention to detail, plus numerous color photographs and fine maps. Lots of instructions regarding practical travel matters. (Travel Books Review)

What do you think of whenever you hear the word, "Holocaust?" If you are like me, you think of German concentration camps and the Jews. It came as a complete surprise to me that Roman Catholic Aryan German could land in one of their "own"camps. This is exactly what happened to Nanda Herbermann, a German living in Munster. As an editor and writer for The Grail, her parish publication, Herbermann and parish priest, Father Muckermann, were part of the German, Catholic resistance to the Nazis. For this, Muckermann was forced to flee Germany; Herbermann was eventually arrested by the Gestapo and incarcerated at Ravensbruck, a concentration camp for women. In her own words, penned in "The Blessed Abyss, Inmate #6582 in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp for Women," we receive from Herbermann a detailed account of the horrors of her daily life, but from a very different perspective than Jewish accounts. Here is a woman who was brought up as an Aryan, with Aryan views, who slowly softens and revises her attitude toward Jews, lesbians, prostitutes and all other minorities imprisoned in Ravensbruck as she is thrown in among them and faced with the realities of their mutual hardships. Her incredulity that this is happening to her, that these atrocities are committed by her beloved, fellow Germans is a crushing blow. It is truly her faith that carries her through these daily "stations of the cross." This compelling reading is enhanced by Hester and Elizabeth Baer's meticulously written Preface and Introduction. Here she provides the reader with a detailed history of the Catholic Church's involvement with the Nazis, Herbermann's life and family, and a provocative discussion of women and the Holocaust. This is truly eye-opening, ground breaking reading that I consider imperative to any scholar of the Holocaust or someone who wants to read "the rest of the story."

Ravensbruck stood out among German concentration camps as gender specific: only women were imprisoned there. Perhaps for this reason, it has suffered from historical neglect, despite the fact that its inmates were often extremely important members of resistance movements in France, Germany and throughout Europe. By translating this extremely important memoir of Nanda Herbermann, known and taught widely in Germany, the Baers have made an important first step in telling the history of Ravensbruck. Baer's scholarly introduction frames the memoir from many angles--women in the holocaust, the new woman, the Catholic Church and the Nazis and wartime resistance. This is an important book for scholars of the twentieth century, and would make an excellent choice for teaching Nazi Germany, the Second World War and the Holocaust. It would also fit well in courses on women's autobiography.

I need this book urgentl

The book contains hundreds of photograhps of mainly the BMW R12 and some of the R75. All photographs are taken in Worldwar II and represent valuable historic information on how these bikes were used in combat. It also reveals the strategies being used by motorcycle companies and shows some of the human suffering of this era. Furthermore it contains valuable technical information, drawings and exploded views of the BMW R75. Highly recommended to anyone interested in this part of the history or for those who are involved in BMW R12 or R75 restoration.