Five Germanys I Have Known
by Fritz Stern
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Description
The "German question" haunts the modern world: How could so civilized a nation be responsible for the greatest horror in Western history? In this unusual fusion of personal memoir and history, the celebrated scholar Fritz Stern refracts the question through the prism of his own life. Born in the Weimar Republic, exposed to five years of National Socialism before being forced into exile in 1938 in America, he became a world-renowned historian whose work opened new perspectives on the German show more past. Stern brings to life the five Germanys he has experienced: Weimar, the Third Reich, postwar West and East Germanys, and the unified country after 1990. Through his engagement with the nation from which he and his family fled, he shows that the tumultuous history of Germany, alternately the strength and the scourge of Europe, offers political lessons for citizens everywhere--especially those facing or escaping from tyranny. In this wise, tough-minded, and subtle book, Stern, himself a passionately engaged citizen, looks beyond Germany to issues of political responsibility that concern everyone.FiveGermanys I Have Knownvindicates his belief that, at its best, history is our most dramatic introduction to a moral civic life. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The so-called "German question" haunts the modern world but here the author describes a more personal Germany that he has known. He is very articulate and has thought about his identity; politically, he is a 1960s liberal in a leading academic.
A balanced and heartfelt view of Fritz's contemporaneous world spanning from pre-Weimar to the new FDR -- and all the formative tragedy and drama in between. Fritz gives sense also to what it means to be a conscientious citizen, as he embodies for both America and Europe in an exemplary way. I reveled in the fascinating glimpses and insights in his telling of his experience, which of course is the more nuanced view of history one misses either in the CNN Headline-ism that we are confronted with today so often or the narrow focus on the micro-minutiae of overspecialized history books.
meisterhafte Geschichteschreibung und scharfsinnige Analyse der deutschen Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts,
Aug 18, 2014German
Ein ganz großes Buch, das man von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite mit Bewunderung und Staunen liest.
Jun 19, 2008German
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60 works; 1 member
Author Information
20 Works 1,690 Members
Fritz Stern was born in the former German province of Silesia (now in Poland) on February 2, 1926 to a prominent family that had converted from Judaism to Christianity. The Sterns felt increasingly threatened by Hitler's reign and left for New York in 1938. He received an undergraduate and master's degree and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He show more taught at Columbia University for more than 40 years, specializing in European history, before retiring in 1997. He wrote several books during his lifetime including The Politics of Cultural Despair, The Failure of Illiberalism, and Five Germanys I Have Known. He occasionally advised government officials including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on German reunification in the early 1990s and held government positions like being appointed a senior aide to Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, in 1993. He died May 18, 2016 at the age of 90. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Original language*
- Englisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 943.087092 — History & geography History of Europe Central Europe: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech, Poland, Hungary Historical periods of Germany Germany 1866- East And West 1945-1990 History, geographic treatment, biography Biography
- LCC
- DD86.7 .S84 .A3 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Germany History of Germany History General
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 272
- Popularity
- 119,009
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (4.14)
- Languages
- English, German, Hungarian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 4
