On Germany [Hardcover]

A rich and refreshing exploration of Germany, Germans and Germanness.After the Second World War, Germany was an international pariah. Today, it has become a beacon of the Western world. But what makes this extraordinary nation tick?On Germanytells the story of a country reborn, from defeat in 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the painstaking reunification of the two Germanies and the Republic's return to the world stage as an economic colossus and European leader. Giles MacDonogh restores these momentous events of world history to their German context, from the food and drink that accompanied them to the deep-rooted provincialism behind the national story.Full of vivid and often whimsical vignettes of German life, this is a Germanophile's homage to the culture and people of a country he has known for decades.CONTENTSMaps of GermanyPrefacePART IGERMANY SINCE 1945IntroductionReconstructionUnity or DivisionAtonementThe WallA New Generation Comes of AgeOstpolitikBack in the DDRKohl Reunites GermanyThe Capital Returns EastStitching Together the Two HalvesPART IITHE GERMAN PEOPLEThe Prussian SpiritVergangenheitsbew?ltigungLand und LeuteRace and ReligionGermany and the WorldPrinces and NoblesRefugees, or VertriebeneThe Ones They Left BehindCredit and LossThe Outdoor LifeDichter und DenkerThe ArtsModernism becomes OrthodoxyThe Denazification of ArtGordon Gilkey and His TrophiesWeather WitchRestitutionNo Ties with the PastWiedergutmachenArt East of the ElbeLiterature in the WestCinemaMusicPART IIION THE ROADThe Three GermaniesSchnapps GermanyCapitalSouth-West BerlinEast BerlinTravels in the Mark BrandenburgMecklenburgBeer GermanyK?lschWeimarSaxonsGhostsCentral GermanyBambergWine GermanyHic HockSwabiaBlack ForestEpilogue: The Fourth Reich?Further ReadingNotesIndexGiles MacDonogh is an acclaimed historian and sometime food, wine and travel writer. This is his fifteenth book and his eighth on Germany. Previous works include biographies of Frederick the Great and tlS+