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Title: The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany, 1780-1918 by David Blackbourn ISBN: 0-19-507672-9 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The Long Nineteenth Century
Comment: People looking for a well written, fast-paced account of German history in the 19th century need look no further than The Long Nineteenth Century. Author David Blackbourne has written what should be the standard for years to come. His work covers German political, economic, social, religious, and even intellectual history during this lengthy but formative period.
Some of his phrases are clichés (i.e., Germany had "no 1789" which might imply they skipped a year) but his understanding of German history is undeniably acute. He also often stresses how issues like ideas and/or revolutions came "from above" but again this detracts nothing from the overall effort. Unlike earlier others, he works to keep all personalities and occurrences into perspective. His handling of the 1850 Treaty of Olmutz is significantly different than Erich Eyck. Likewise Bismarck, though obviously influential, is referred to as "a giant among pygmies." Bismarck's wars against Denmark, Austria, and France are intentionally glossed over, but a bit more detail might have been warranted.
Perhaps Blackbourne's most important message is how Germany ultimately developed into what Eyck referred to as a "machtstadt." Arrogance, chauvinism, and bellicose attitudes eventually led Germany into World War One. Blackbourne does not conclude that Germany caused the Great War, but its machtstadt-like tendencies did not help its case, either.
If there is a flaw to the book its how Blackbourne chose to end it. Rather than reflect on the 138 years covered, he projects towards Nazism as if setting the stage for another study. This is fine, but he never really tied the years mentioned in the subtitle together.
But Blackbourne's effort remains important nonetheless. This work is very readable and the enthusiastic reader will find it difficult to set down. As mentioned above, this book should be the standard introduction to German history for years to come.
Rating: 3
Summary: The LONG 19th Century Indeed!--Too Narrowly Focused
Comment: I picked up this book, intrigued by the slice of German history that it took--from roughly the time of Frederick the Great to the end of World War I, a clearly seminal time in the history of the part of Central Europe that became the German Empire. This was a time populated by many of the major figures in German history, among them Frederick, Bismarck, Wilhelm I and II, Nietzsche, Wagner, Marx, Hauptmann, Fontane, the Mann brothers, and others. But at most, many of these key players seem to have walk-on roles in Blackbourn's history.
Blackbourn seems to have bent over backwards to avoid writing history along the lines of the "great man" model. In essence, he has written a history of Germany that downplays the political and cultural, and emphasizes instead the sociological and economic. He focuses on the Industrial Revolution, class divisions, agriculture, imports and exports, etc. He neglects the rise of political parties and the evolution of parliamentary democracy, and gives short shrift to the dominance of Prussia over the other smaller German states. He seems to downplay the power exerted by the Prussian General Staff, both before and after Unification. After 1871, the relationship of Germany with Austria-Hungary, the other major German-speaking power, largely drops out of the discussion, though it continued to be crucial thoughout the period. International relations generally gets minimal attention.
The book is, to say the least, a chore to read. It is downright boring in places, only occasionally engaging. While one certainly learns something by plodding through it, it seems to come at a great price. This is history for the academic audience, not the general reader.
Rating: 4
Summary: Nuances instead of half truths
Comment: David Blackbourn presents the latest scholarship on 19th century German history in an interesting and provocative way. His thesis is that German society experienced a faster rate of industrialization in the mid and late 19th century than either Britain or France, and that this change created new social problems as well as societal winners and losers. It is against this background of change and social fissures that Blackbourn traces the events that moved Germany from a fragmented, aristocratic society to a "modern" industrial society.
Of course, the modern Reich of 1871-1918 included aristocratic survivals, but these survivals had themselves undergone change. Blackbourn notes that Wilhelmine Germany has been described as "sham parliamentarianism," but he also calls it a "sham autocracy" as well.
Blackbourn's discussions add nuance to our understanding of German history by puncturing many myths common among English-speaking readers. He exposes many half-truths about German history, such as the idea that Germans were more docile towards authority than other Europeans.
I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an understanding of German history in the 19th and 20th centuries. The book includes an extensive reading list of works in English, while the notes direct the reader to German and other sources.
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Title: The Weimar Republic by Detlev Peukert ISBN: 0809015560 Publisher: Hill & Wang Pub Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Divided Nation: A History of Germany, 1918-1990 by Mary Fulbrook ISBN: 0195075714 Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr on Demand Pub. Date: July, 1992 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: German History 1770-1866 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) by James J. Sheehan ISBN: 0198204329 Publisher: Clarendon Pr Pub. Date: October, 1993 List Price(USD): $37.50 |
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Title: Germany, 1866-1945 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) by Gordon Alexandar Craig ISBN: 0195027248 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: March, 1980 List Price(USD): $41.95 |
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Title: Practicing Democracy by Margaret Lavinia Anderson ISBN: 0691048541 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 10 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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