The History of Berlin: Conquest, Division, and Triumph (History of Germany Books) - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Did you know Napoleon stole Berlin's Quadriga statue, only for it to return draped in a Soviet flag 130 years later? From Slavic tribes carving forts in marshland to the fall of the Wall in 1989, this large print book traces how a swamp on the river Spree became the battleground for Europe's soul.

Berlin's history reads like no other city's. This book follows it from the earliest settlements through Prussia's rise under Frederick the Great, Napoleon's humiliation of the city, the failed 1848 revolution, the feverish chaos of the Weimar Republic, the Nazi seizure of power, the Soviet artillery barrage that killed thousands in the final days of the war, and the Cold War decades when a wall turned neighbors into strangers and the Stasi filled 111 miles of shelves with files on ordinary citizens. Each era left its mark on the city, and none of it has been cleaned up here. The large print format keeps maps, timelines, and Cold War-era details easy to follow.

What's inside:

• Early Berlin: Slavic forts, Teutonic knights, and the unlikely rise of a swamp settlement into a Prussian capital
• Frederick the Great and Prussian discipline: the harsh military culture behind Prussia's reputation, and the human cost of desertion and dissent
• Napoleon's occupation, the 1848 revolution, and the barricade fighters shot down by their own king at the Brandenburg Gate
• Weimar Berlin: cabarets dancing on the edge of collapse while hyperinflation wiped out savings and the Nazis rose in the background
• The Third Reich, Soviet bombardment, the Wall, Stasi surveillance, and the night in 1989 when Berliners took hammers to the concrete

Reader review:
"Every chapter felt immediate. The sections on the Stasi files and the hidden prison at Hohenschönhausen were especially powerful. The large print format made the Cold War maps much easier to read than in other books I've tried. If you want to understand why Berlin is the way it is, start here." Prof. Klaus Weber

Berlin's story is Europe's open wound. This book walks you through every era that left a scar on the city, from Prussian militarism to Soviet occupation to the surveillance state that turned families against each other. Large print edition with clear maps and timelines throughout.

Order your copy today.

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