Germania: A Personal History of Germans Ancient and Modern
by:
Simon Winder (author)
'It made me laugh so hard that I woke up my wife and had to give up reading the book in bed. If Bill Bryson had collaborated with W. G. Sebald to write a book about Germany, they might have wound up with something like this' Sunday Times Germania is a very personal guide to the Germany that Simon...
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'It made me laugh so hard that I woke up my wife and had to give up reading the book in bed. If Bill Bryson had collaborated with W. G. Sebald to write a book about Germany, they might have wound up with something like this' Sunday Times Germania is a very personal guide to the Germany that Simon Winder loves. Equally passionate about the region's history, folklore, cuisine, architecture and landscape, Winder describes Germany's past afresh -- and in doing so sees a country much like our own: Protestant, aggressive and committed to eating some very strange food. This accessible, enthusiastic and startlingly vivid account is a brilliant introduction to the hidden wonders of Germany. 'A splendid offering' Financial Times 'His excitement is beguiling and infectious ...There are many pleasures to be savoured in Germania, gems that make Winder's clever, rambunctious work a book to treasure' Literary Review 'Beautifully written and insightful' Irish Times
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780330451406 (0330451405)
Publish date: February 1st 2011
Publisher: Picador Usa
Pages no: 466
Edition language: English
There's history here, if you can squint through the haze of British distaste for the German language, food (really? You're going to judge?), and culture. I do recommend it for the subject matter alone, but wish it had a different author.
I've never found European History all that interesting, it always seems to dwell on France and Italy (which are a bit dull really), and apart from the obvious 20th century madness, I've not known much about Germany. Simon Winder corrects this omission with Germania – as a Germanophile it is difficul...