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Germany The Memories of a Nation; Radio Program; Library Edition Neil MacGregor 9781481506243 Books

Download As PDF : Germany The Memories of a Nation; Radio Program; Library Edition Neil MacGregor 9781481506243 Books

Germany The Memories of a Nation; Radio Program; Library Edition Neil MacGregor 9781481506243 Books

800 years in 500 plus pages on each of which you will, unless you are a scholar of Germany, find something you did not know before. Nothing is left out, and even the painful parts of history are dealt with sensitivity and insight. A page turner, I read it straight through in a couple of days—something unusual for me. I will ponder it awhile, and then reread it again.
The graphics, which I studied on an iPad, are beautifully done.


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Germany The Memories of a Nation; Radio Program; Library Edition Neil MacGregor 9781481506243 Books Reviews

There are certainly more detailed histories of the German people and nation, but this is one of the best places to start. It is a superb companion to a visit at the Deutsches Historiches Museum, where many of the referenced works reside today. A combination of political, cultural, and military history, it leaves one with an appreciation and respect for the forces that have shaped modern Germany. And a long list of places to visit.
Author Neil MacGregor has also done the book "History in a 100 Objects" and this offering is done in a similar fashion. Now MacGregor notes in his introduction that this is not a history book. I agree. It's really a cultural memoir. The author notes that finding Germany on the map can be a bit of a problem. Strasburg is now part of France and Konigsberg is part of Russia. I might add that Pomerania where members of my family originated is part of Poland. According to MacGregor the key to Germany is language. Germany is where German is spoken, OK except for Switzerland.

With his ties to the British Museum, MacGregor focuses on things like the Hohenzollern crown and Charlemagne's sword, sorry, make that Karl the Great's sword. It's really interesting stuff, things not normally thought of. There are also, for example,chapters on clocks and bibles, equally interesting. In fact a whole bunch of cultural stuff is covered.

As for history, MacGregor is a court historian and by no means a revisionist. He holds the whole German nation responsible for World War II atrocities. He further notes that Germany may be the only nation working to make sure its future does not reflect its past. Now personally I've become a revisionist so I should dislike the book. While small parts of "Memories of a Nation" might sound Germanophobic, and this is the curious thing about the book, MacGregor has nothing but very high praise for things distinctly German. It's this cultural greatness and innovative past that is covered in most of the book. So do I dislike the book? Heck no. It touches on things generally never thought of. It is a very interesting book and a fun read.

A couple final notes. Not surprisingly the book is printed on slick paper and the many illustrations are excellent. It's a big book weighing about three and a half pounds but with good sized print, important to someone like me who wears tri-focals.
When "Germany" arrived, I was taken aback by its girth, but the captivating images and accessible text instantly pushed it to the top of my long reading list.

What does it mean to be German? I thought this would have a straight-forward answer until MacGregor explained (with the help of wonderful maps) the patchwork of principalities and city-states that were melded into Germany less than 150 years ago. I consider myself "German-American," but most Germans came to the U.S. before Germany was actually a country. I didn't realize that Germany is as much an "imagined community" (Benedict Anderson) as the Southeast Asian nations created by Europe in the 1800s. Of course the German identity that emerged after 1871 was shattered by two devastating wars.

Instead of being the German sequel to "A History of the World in 100 Objects," MacGregor explores German identity, focusing on the key buildings/monuments, objects and quintessential artists. Even though MacGregor cannot go into great detail about individual examples, I still learned new information about even the most familiar objects. My first car was a VW Bug, but I didn't know the first ones were made by the British.
To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. As a student of German and Austrian history, I have read many of the books that the author used for this book but the author synthesizes that information in such a way that he makes it seem even more interesting than it is. Perhaps that is because of the visuals included in the book. Excellent photographic reproductions of art and architecture and books are produced here that allow one to visualize German history. The author's beautiful prose adds to the appeal of the book as well. In short, this is a superb book to read if one wants to understand the paths of German history.

MacGregor uses art and architecture to narrate the history of Germany. The photos in this book are truly sublime. In thematic sections divided into chapters, the author takes the reader on a journey into the many Germanies' past. Yes, more than one Germany because until 1871, there was no one German nation. We now think of Prussia as Germany but that is not the only Germany. This was also the area of Saxony and the Hanseatic League and of the Holy Roman Empire and a host of micro German states.

The book is mostly written in in chronological order though there are jumps from the present to the past and back to the present again. Beginning with a geographical placement of Germany, the author then moves on to the idea of Germany, its history, its arts and sciences, its Fall, and ends with it's present.

This is one of the best histories of Germany you will ever read. I cannot recommend it more. It's a book that you will finish and wish to reread it again because that's how good it is.
800 years in 500 plus pages on each of which you will, unless you are a scholar of Germany, find something you did not know before. Nothing is left out, and even the painful parts of history are dealt with sensitivity and insight. A page turner, I read it straight through in a couple of days—something unusual for me. I will ponder it awhile, and then reread it again.
The graphics, which I studied on an iPad, are beautifully done.