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captaincocanutty's review against another edition
3.0
A lot of good information in this book, but it is a very dense read.
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Gordon Craig's The Germans is a scholarly and verbose work that gave me more information than I was prepared to digest in preparation for my upcoming Rhine River Cruise. I was looking for insight into the German people, and I got a deep analysis of their national character, complete with extensive quotes from literature, detailed discussions of post-WWII politics, and a breakdown of financial policies in East and West Germany. There is much that I read that deserved much more attention than I gave it; I was moving quickly looking to retain only what was useful to me now.
There were several chapters that I found fascinating, particularly those that helped me understand more about the rise of Nazism. There was a good discussion about the century of Anti-Semitism and its effects, an interesting analysis of the societal results of the Romantic movement with its emphasis on emotion and destiny over reason and analysis, and an insightful chapter on the political uses of the Germanic language. If this book in its entirety is overmuch, I would suggest a reading of the first chapter, "Historical Perspectives" to anyone who would like to understand more about how modern German culture has been so shaped by its past.
3.5 stars.
There were several chapters that I found fascinating, particularly those that helped me understand more about the rise of Nazism. There was a good discussion about the century of Anti-Semitism and its effects, an interesting analysis of the societal results of the Romantic movement with its emphasis on emotion and destiny over reason and analysis, and an insightful chapter on the political uses of the Germanic language. If this book in its entirety is overmuch, I would suggest a reading of the first chapter, "Historical Perspectives" to anyone who would like to understand more about how modern German culture has been so shaped by its past.
3.5 stars.
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