A Concise History of Germany - Mary Fulbrook

A book such as this is infinitely easier to criticise than to write. The attempt to compress over a thousand years of highly complex history into a brief volume will inevitably provoke squeals of protest from countless specialists, who see their own particular patches distorted, constrained, misrepresented, even ignored. Yet a brief history of such a large topic can make no attempt at comprehensiveness. At best it can provide an intelligent guide to the broad sweep of developments.

This book is part of a series of concise histories of various countries written by various authors. The author has a done a fine job of compressing German history into 277 pages. She nicely puts historical events into perspective taking a middle road on controversial topics. I like the style of her writing finding it both easy to read and still appropriate for a text on history.

I chose to read this prior to travelling to Germany. Visiting many older towns, I had hoped to learn more German history to add to my enjoyment of my trip. This book did little to help me. It is basically a condensed history book. Too often when history is condensed tightly, it becomes too much of one war and one king after another with little space for understanding the issues surrounding these changes. Perhaps I should have read a book on medieval Germany or perhaps find a book on history for interested travellers. For a good overview on German history, this book works. To read before you travel to Germany, don't bother.