Modern Germany

Bloomsbury presents Goethe, written and read by A. N. Wilson Goethe remains one of the most influential figures in modern literature and thought. Goethe was the inventor of the psychological novel, a pioneer scientist, great man of the theatre and a leading politician. As A. N. Wilson argues in...

For nearly a century, historians have depicted Germany as a rabidly nationalist land, born in a sea of aggression. Not so, says Helmut Walser Smith, who, in this groundbreaking 500-year history, challenges traditional perceptions of Germany's conflicted past, revealing a nation far more thematically complicated than 20th-century historians have imagined. 

Offering a history of the Germany that Bavaria made over the twentieth century, A Nation Fermented both eschews sharp temporal divisions and forgoes conventional narratives centered on Prussia, Berlin, or the Rhineland. In so doing, Terrell offers a fresh take on the importance of provincial influences and the role of commodities and commerce in shaping the nation.

Written by two of the world's leading authorities on the subject, Imperial Germany and War, 1871-1918 examines the most essential components of the imperial German military system, with an emphasis on such foundational areas as theory, doctrine, institutional structures, training, and the officer corps. In the period between 1871 and 1918, rapid technological development demanded considerable adaptation and change in military doctrine and planning. 

The Sunday Times Bestseller and insipration behind David Mitchell's Unruly. 'Entertaining and informative . . . Delightful' – Independent There are many reasons to be fascinated by Germany: forests, architecture and fairy tales, not to mention its history and inhabitants’ penchant for very...

Germany is one of the richest and most influential countries in the world, which is amazing when you consider that the nation is only about the size of the US states of Oregon and Washington combined. It’s even more astounding when you consider that at the end of World War II, every major German city (and many minor ones) had been flattened by the Allied bombing campaign. Still more amazing is that the country has gone from international pariah and home of the Holocaust to one of the most well-regarded and humanitarian nations on Earth.

Here, from New York Times best-selling historian Francis Russell, is the dramatic story of Germany - from the rise of Charlemagne to the age of Martin Luther, from the 30 Years' War to the iron rule of Otto von Bismarck, and from the formation of the Weimar Republic to the fighting of two world wars.

On 1 August 1714 George I was proclaimed king, bringing Britain and his native Hanover into personal union and founding the dynasty that has ruled Britain ever since. It marked the beginning of a close yet fraught relationship that would shape the destiny of both Britain and Germany, with...

In the wake of World War II, the European continent was devastated, and the conflict left the Soviet Union and the United States as uncontested superpowers. This ushered in over 45 years of the Cold War, and a political alignment of Western democracies against the Communist Soviet bloc that produced conflicts pitting allies on each sides fighting. By the 1960s, East Germany was pushing for a solution to the problem of an enclave of freedom within its borders. West Berlin was a haven for highly-educated East Germans who wanted freedom and a better life in the West.

An American descendant of its wealthy German-Jewish owners tells the human story of a house near Berlin, revealing its Nazi occupation and use as a child-care center,and the building of the Berlin Wall 50 feet from the front door.

“Wholly immersive and impeccably researched, Bryn Turnbull’s tale brings the time vividly to life.” —Toronto Star on The Paris Deception For fans of Kate Quinn and Kristin Hannah, this sweeping love story follows a young couple whose lives are irrevocably changed when they’re separated...

This program is read by the author. From a master of popular history, the lively, immersive story of the race to seize Berlin in the aftermath of World War II as it’s never been told before BERLIN’S FATE WAS SEALED AT THE 1945 YALTA CONFERENCE: the city, along with the rest of Germany, was...

Deutschland – ein Land mit einer faszinierenden, wechselvollen Vergangenheit. Von den ersten Siedlern der Steinzeit über das mächtige Heilige Römische Reich, die Weltkriege des 20. Jahrhunderts bis hin zur heutigen Rolle in Europa – die deutsche Geschichte ist geprägt von Aufstieg, Krisen, Umbrüchen und Neuanfängen. Doch wie wurde Deutschland zu dem, was es heute ist?