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Germany: A Nation in Its Time

Before, During, and After Nationalism, 1500-2000
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( 371 ratings, 42 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Germany: A Nation in Its Time by Helmut Walser Smith offers a comprehensive exploration of Germany's national identity through various historical phases, from the Holy Roman Empire to modern reunification. The book focuses on how cultural, political, and social upheavals have shaped the nation's consciousness and heritage across centuries. It provides an insightful narrative into Germany's evolving self-perception and its place within Europe and the wider world.
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Format: Hardback
$7599
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you are intrigued by the evolution of nations, specifically Germany, and wish to explore its historical journey from the early modern age to the present. It offers insightful perspectives that illuminate the tides of social, political, and cultural change over centuries, making it an engaging read for history enthusiasts interested in understanding how collective identities are formed and transformed.

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The first major history of Germany in a generation, a work that presents a five-hundred-year narrative that challenges our traditional perceptions of Germany’s conflicted past.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

An epic in the tradition of Jonathan Spence's The Search for Modern China and Jill Lepore's These Truths, Helmut Walser Smith's sterling work promises to redefine our perception of German history.

For nearly a century, conventional historians have depicted Germany as a rabidly nationalist land, born in a sea of aggression, its nineteenth-century ascent accompanied by militarism and brought to a murderous apex in the Third Reich. Not so, asserts Smith, who, beginning in 1500, reveals early and even surprisingly pacific conceptions of the nation.

Smith allows us to see the Nazis' extreme form of nationalism not as the dark culmination point of German history, but rather as an essential episode in Germany's centuries-long history of continually conceiving the nation in radically different ways.

Whether chronicling the Thirty Years War, the German Enlightenment of Goethe and Schiller, the Weimar Republic, the Holocaust, or the era of Angela Merkel, Smith has created a new standard for the twenty-first-century.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The book by Helmut Walser Smith is praised for its comprehensive exploration of Germany's evolving identity over five centuries, highlighting its complex and ever-changing nature. Reviewers appreciate its focus on various aspects, such as politics, culture, and science, emphasising the nation's continuous transformation. The writing is noted for its clarity and richness, making it a valuable read for anyone interested in German history.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780871404664

Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 17 April 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Liveright Publishing Corporation

Illustration: 80 black-and-white illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 41.0mm

Width: 165.0mm

Height: 244.0mm

Weight: 977g

Pages: 608

About the Author

Helmut Walser Smith is the Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, and the author of the acclaimed The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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