Books reviews, current events, and other musings

Martin Kitchen's book The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany was a disappointment, not nearly as good as the China and France books in the series. Kitchen describes the history of the region, from Roman times to reunification. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide a context for understanding the narrative, making it difficult to follow unless you're already familiar with the general course of events.

The first three chapters cover the 4th to early 16th centuries, a scope that would be difficult for any author to present coherently. The various power struggles - for control of the monarchy, between different leaders within Germany, with the states outside Germany, and with the pope - are all rather complex. A general understanding of the Holy Roman Empire was about all that sunk in, though it's good to see that material once in my life.

The pace is more reasonable for the next six chapters, which went from the Reformation to the outbreak of World War I. That period includes many events that I hoped to learn more about, such as the rise and fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Napoleon's occupation, the unrest of 1848, and German unification under Bismarck. For each subject, Kitchen describes the details without putting them into a larger framework. To his credit, he does explore social, cultural, and religious issues, in addition to the more traditional history.

The last four chapters, regarding the 20th century, were the best part of the book. Being familiar with the historical outline made that portion much more compelling. Considering what happened during the last century (World War I, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, the Cold War, and reunification), it would have been surprising if those chapters didn't hold my interest. As minor complaints, Kitchen spent too much time discussing the German political parties, and he seemed more critical of the 60's radicals than he was about anyone else besides the Nazis.

I'd give the book a mixed review. Though it was informative, there must be better books on the subject.