Publishers Weekly
02/25/2019
With this pocket-size history, Hawes (Englanders and Huns) delivers a wide-ranging yet precise chronicle of political leaders who have served and shaped what is now Germany. He opens with Julius Caesar, who named the country and described a people preoccupied by “the pursuits of the military arts,” (his contemporary Tacitus, meanwhile, noted its “pure race”). Following snapshots of Charlemagne’s reign, the founding of Lutheranism, and the emperors Frederick I, II, and III, Hawes covers history from the internecine 17th-century power struggle among three dynasties (Habsburgs, Hohenzollers, and Wettins) to the emergence of the Third Reich. The author shows how after WWI, Munich became “a haven for extreme right-wingers” who galvanized the “Lutheran countryside” and laid the groundwork for WWII. While the book ends on a cautionary note about the current rise of nationalism throughout Europe, in light of Germany’s lengthy history, the author concludes that the Nazi era was “a terrible aberration” and that Chancellor Angela Merkel must “hold firm” in invoking the Germany of Charlemagne. The book is embellished with maps, illustrations, diagrams, and boxes that break up the text nicely and clarify various concepts and geographical changes. (Curiously, post-WWII West Germany closely resembled what the Romans called Germania.) This clearly presented history will be of particular interest to readers following the political machinations of the European Union. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
A #1 International BestsellerA Der Spiegel "Most Provoking Book of the Year" “A rapid-paced, thought-provoking, easy-to-digest account of German history.”—Library Journal “A fast-moving encapsulation of German history focusing on the thesis that Prussia’s aggression was a short-lived anomaly in the big picture and not reflective of the true German spirit . . . A marvelously concise effort, especially compelling as Angela Merkel is set to step down in 2021, leaving an uncertain vacuum in Europe.”—Kirkus Reviews “In this ‘shortest history,’ Hawes conquers the dense task of recounting the story of the land and people of what is now Germany over the last two millennia . . . [He] does a good job guiding readers . . . pointing out parallels to today and arguing that Germany’s history, long-ago and recent, makes it a key, if not the key, player in world leadership.”—Booklist “James Hawes condenses two millennia into a zippy 256 pages. Breezy yet knowledgeable, the book provides a thorough grounding in the major historical events and religious and regional differences that shaped the country at the very heart of Europe.”—Foreword Reviews “With this pocket-size history, Hawes delivers a wide-ranging yet precise chronicle of political leaders who have served and shaped what is now Germany. . . . This clearly presented history will be of particular interest to readers following the political machinations of the European Union.”—Publishers WeeklyPraise from the UK “An excellent little book . . . [Hawes] knows what he's on about and his conclusions are measured, but he favours clear, concise prose over dense academese. He has a sense of humour, and a sharp eye for similarities between then and now.”—The Spectator “The Shortest History of Germany, a new, must-read book by the writer James Hawes, [recounts] how the so-called limes separating Roman Germany from non-Roman Germany has remained a formative distinction throughout the post-ancient history of the German people.”—Economist.com “An excellent, elegantly written overview of German history from the Iron Age to Angela Merkel's chancellorship . . . Authoritative and accessible.”—New European (Book of the Week) “A sparkling little book, which really does begin at the beginning . . . Hawes exemplifies the remarkable contribution of Anglo-Saxon scholarship to post-war German historiography . . . It is not accidental that some of the best minds in the Anglosphere have worried away at the German problem ever since 1945. The preceding generation had been dragged into two world wars, the Iron Curtain ran through Berlin, and getting to grips with German history was the key to preventing the Cold War from becoming a Third World War. Hawes has distilled all this into a primer that might be slipped into a prime ministerial red box.”—Standpoint “Sweeping and confident . . . has a frightening urgency.”—Observer “Engaging . . . I suspect I shall remember it for a lifetime.”—The Oldie “Fascinating . . . as an introduction to the most important country in Europe today, this is a great read, and an ideal primer.”—Tribune Magazine “Yes, the Nazis are here, but so too is a history stretching from the Germanic tribes who took on the Roman Empire, right up to Chancellor Angela Merkel . . . Comprehensive, vivid, and entertaining . . . if you want to understand a country on which much of the free world is now pinning its hopes, you could do worse than start here.”—Irish Examiner “Here is Germany as you've never known it: a bold thesis; an authoritative sweep and an exhilarating read. Agree or disagree, this is a must for anyone interested in how Germany has come to be the way it is today.”—Professor Karen Leeder, Prof. of Modern German Literature, University of Oxford “A daring attempt to remedy the ignorance of the centuries in little over 200 pages... not just an entertaining canter past the most prominent landmarks in German history—also a serious, well-researched and radical rethinking of the continuities in German political life.”—Professor Nicholas Boyle, Schröder Professor of German, Cambridge University “Underwrite an overview of a complicated topic with one of these new short-and-sweet distillations. . . with maps, charts, sidebars, and illustrations to bring it alive.”—Mosaic, Morgan Stanley
Kirkus Reviews
2018-12-11
A fast-moving encapsulation of German history focusing on the thesis that Prussia's aggression was a short-lived anomaly in the big picture and not reflective of the true German spirit.
German-steeped British academic Hawes (Creative Writing/Oxford Brookes Univ.; Englanders and Huns: The Culture-Clash Which Led to the First World War, 2014, etc.) imparts plenty of useful information in this handy history for students looking to define a sometimes-inscrutable people with a tainted recent past. At the beginning, the author implores readers to "throw away a great deal of what we think we know about German history, and start afresh." First, he reminds us that "Julius Caesar had invented the Germans," that is the barbarians who lived east of the Rhine who differed greatly from the Romans, who, according to Tacitus, "had degenerated into a people made soft by vice and luxury, who merely groveled to their emperors." Hence the beginning of the rather romantic character of Germans as wild and noble tribesmen on the frontiers. Hawes sees the birth of Germany as we know it with the partition of Charlemagne's kingdom into West Frankish (France) and East Frankish (Germany); the practice of "electing" a king—Conrad in 911 C.E.—meant much of the subsequent German history was "one of a permanent battle between royalty and high nobility." The author traces how the separation of west Germany from what was known as East Elbia occurred with the rise of the Junkers ("young lords") and the increasing militarization of "muscled-up" Prussia under Frederick the Great, leading Prussia to its bellicose apotheosis from 1866 to 1945—"the great deformation," asserts Hawes. The true liberal democratic spirit of the robust, enterprising Germans resides in the west, rather than the east, now again courting right-wing parties.
A marvelously concise effort, especially compelling as Angela Merkel is set to step down in 2021, leaving an uncertain vacuum in Europe.
