Modern Germany

By Koppel Shub Pinson and Koppel Shub (1904-1961); Epstein Klaus Pinson

Book Overview

Modern Germany: Its History and Civilization This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0023954205
• ISBN13: 9780023954207
• Release Date: January 1966
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 682 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A detailed look at the history of Germany since Bismark

Modern Germany, by Koppel S. Pinson, is one of the most comprehensive accounts of modern German history since Bismark. This book has become a extremely valuable research aid in my studies on German history, as it is very readable because of Pinson's great narrative ability. My focus area has been from the end of World War 1 to the end of the Second World War and the end of Nazi rule. Pinson provides a detailed analysis of the Weimar period, from the origins of the republic, to its constitution, foreign policy, economic and intellectual life and the subsequent failure of democracy in Germany. In doing this he provides well-balanced and reasonably unbiased comments on the failure of the Weimar Republic and the subsequent rise of Hitler and the Nazis. He states that the Weimar Republic committed suicide by its weak constitution, the effects of the Treaty of Versailles on the Republic played a large part in its failure, as did the political and economic crisis that hit the Republic during its duration. The rest of the book deals reasonably comprehensively with the rise and the rule of Hitler and the Nazis. It provides some insights into Nazi ideology and its effects on the German people. One particular example I found amusing was the example of the Nazis claiming that Germans should no longer eat those putrid foreign lemons when they can eat good, hearty German rhubarb, which apparently cleanses the blood of all the Aryan race! This provided a few chuckles amongst a very disturbing account of one of the darkest periods of modern world history. Overall, I would say that this book is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in the effects of some of the darkest periods of modern German history on the German country and its civilisation.