Suggestions for books to read about Germany history (esp. WWII)

There are so many, but Shirer's book is outstanding, as is his The Nightmare Years. You might consider Eight Days in May by Volker Ullrich, which details the time directly after AH's suicide and the collapse of the Third Reich. I'm sure you'll get many more suggestions. Enjoy your trip.

Try reading some current thinking on this topic rather than just past generation's:

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/12/02/nazis-on-the-run/

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/09/23/stalins-lawyers-at-nuremberg/

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/01/14/hitler-conspiracies-antarctica/

In all seriousness ... the subject is too broad.

When you say WWII ... are you talking the war years? Then one source might be "A Soldier's Story" by Omar Bradley. Of course, you will have to get through the Africa and Normandy campaigns before you get to the parts pertaining to Germany.

For the Nazi era, I guess Shirer's book is enough but maybe too much for a refresher?

For the Pre-Weimar Republic ... honestly, I'd start with Wikipedia. Not because of accuracy, but it might give you ideas of where you want to focus. Roman times? Carolingian? Medieval? Prussia? then go to some of the quoted references.

I'm going to focus on Berlin events.

As Tom notes, the Erik Larsen book is excellent.

A local history professor encouraged me to read memoirs in addition to history prior to my first trip to Germany. German Boy by Wolfgang Samuel became my favorite book. It recounts the author's experience as a German kid from his 10th birthday shortly before the end of the war to his 14th birthday near the end of the Berlin Airlift. Most of that time was spent as a refugee. The book offers good insight into the German post-war experience.

That brings us to The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour by Andrei Cherny. It covers the Airlift in a very readable fashion, including the story of a personal hero of mine, Gail Halvorsen, who began dropping candy to the children of Berlin. I don't find the subtitle to be hyperbole; the Airlift was indeed among the US's finest moments.

Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Fredrick Kempe. What a great book. So much insight into Kennedy, Khrushchev, their relationship and Cold War politics. Tanks face off at Checkpoint Charlie. Berlin Wall goes up... much to the relief of JFK because it seems to solve his Berlin problem... but that relief turns to heartbreak when he sees the Wall on his trip to Berlin. His short Berlin speech is among the free world's greatest; watch it here.

Finally, The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall by Mary Elise Sarotte, which walks through the events leading up to the quite accidental opening of the Berlin Wall due to an East German bureaucrat/spokesman missing a meeting. If you read the book, make it more real by looking up and watching video of the events it describes on Youtube.

I started to recommend related sites to see in Berlin for each book, but it made for too long of a post!

Off topic, but If you have interest in a superb private guide in Berlin, I can't recommend Robert Sommer highly enough. Fifteen-year-old son of a fairly high-ranking East German bureaucrat at the time the wall fell. One of the first US-DDR exchange students, coming to the US with a red mohawk and leaving the US with red/green/black dreadlocks. Punk rock squatter as a young adult who fought in the streets with neo-Nazis. Earned a PhD -- his thesis dealt with prostitution in concentration camps. Married to a former member of Parliament. Super interesting guy. I've done everything from a basic Berlin tour with him to an architecture tour to exploring Spandau (the area his wife represented) to exploring an abandoned Soviet military complex to wandering around inside Soviet bunkers that stored nuclear warheads. http://thetrueberliner.com/

These are all such wonderful suggestions - thank you all so much! I agree that my period is very broad but would love suggestions for anything during that time period. I have around 3 1/2 months before my trip so I should be able to get in lots of reading before I go (and during, of course).

Larry, Eight Days in May sounds perfect - I know very little about the period directly following his suicide and this would be a fascinating subject.

avirosemail, thank you very much for the links! That's a good idea about reading some contemporary articles on the subject. I have bookmarked them all and will look for more.

GoWest, yes, I know it's broad but mostly I'm interested (at this time) in the WWII era, specifically focusing in the European theater. I know there is a lot of information about the rest of the war (and I've read a bit of it, especially about the Holocaust and resistance fighters in various countries) but I could potentially narrow it down. That's interesting what you said though about Prussia. That is one area I know a little bit about but would like to learn more. There is a school of thought (led by Heinrich Böll) that the German and especially Prussian focus on military education in schools (long before WWI and WWII) was one of the major contributing factors to Germany's military aggression. Boll wrote a wonderful story called Wanderer kommst du nach Spa... that revolves around this idea.
Anyway, thank you for the suggestions and I will definitely check them out!

Tom, thanks for the suggestion! I like Erik Lawson's work and have read a few of his other books. Btw, I see you're from Minnesota. I live in Duluth (I moved here a few years ago post-retirement from Ohio).

Dave, thank you so much for the extremely comprehensive post! All of your suggestions look wonderful and that is a nice idea about reading memoirs. I read one called drüben! - a graphic novel by Simon Schwartz that first got me interested in the era of the Soviet occupation and the DDR, and would love to read more. Thanks for the link to JFK's speech - I've heard it before but it's been a very long time, and welcome the opportunity to see it on video. All the other books you mentioned look very interesting and I will hopefully manage to work my way through all of them (luckily, I'm a fast reader). :) Also thanks for the info on the guide - he sounds like a fascinating person. I will check out his website.

Two books I haven't read but look interesting from the immediate post WW 2 period, After the Reich by Giles MacDonough, and Savage Continent by Keith Low which covers all of Europe at that time.

Not a book suggestion, but a stop in the German History Museum would give the German viewpoint of the war and the events leading up to it. On our 2019 bucket list trip, my wife and I followed the suggestion in the RS guidebook to visit the museum first to get some background on Berlin's history. I am a museum guy (and a history teacher) so I didn't need convincing. What I found was how honest, forthright, and direct the German view of their responsibility for WW2 was. This was true too in the Reichstag where Soviet soldier graffiti and bullet hole damage remains and is integrated into the modern architecture and at the bombed out Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. BTW thanks for your indepth posts in all topics Germany. They really helped that 2019 trip and the next one in 2023 or 2024.

I can second the German History museum.

As for reading, I have to admit to not having any specific suggestions, but I think many fail to understand the basic history of the Germanic region from roughly the era of Charlemagne up to WW1. We think of Germany as a country, it was not, but a wild collection of states and principalities, rarely working together, usually fighting, and heavily used and influenced by other powers in Europe. Only in the late 1800's did something like a unified Germany emerge, and not in the borders we know today.

I would suggest widening your scope, find a good overview of German history, the Wikipedia suggestion is not bad, you can get immersed in clicking link after link, finding all kinds of interesting things. This convoluted past is one of the main sub-currents to WW1, which was a direct cause of WW2.

As for modern Berlin, while WW2 certainly shaped the city, the cold war had a much more lasting effect on the current city, which can still be seen today, evidence of WW2 has been largely erased, but there if you know where to look.

Rob, thanks for those suggestions! I am adding them to my list.

culp3, I have the German History Museum on my list of things to see, of course, but will bump it up to my first morning. I'm really looking forward to seeing it and that is a good idea to see it first. It's also very interesting what you said about Germany taking responsibility. I was once talked to a former co-worker and mentioned something about the Holocaust. She said that it was a hoax and she didn't believe in it. It's the closest I've ever come to hitting another person. I was so angry that all the horrors and sadness of that period were not only not being acknowledged but actually denied. Germany has it right - their process will hopefully keep that from ever happening again. Thank you for your thoughts on that.

Paul, that is a wonderful idea to look at the whole of Germany as an un-united country, and how that affected the war. I mentioned a story I read in one of my responses above. The story by Heinrich Böll blamed both world wars on the humanistic education that Germany pushed through for many years, which promoted a Sparta-like military ideology. And I will definitely check out Wikipedia for some background information. I'm a little more familiar with the Cold War than WWII - we discussed in my German classes and my high school and college history classes. So it will be interesting to visit some of the sites and read more about that period before I go. Thank you!

Tom, I have read a few things about Friedrich Meinecke but have not read any of his writings. I do know that he was anti-semitic so it will be hard to get past that. But if everything we read was sugar-coated, we'd never learn anything. At any rate, his book sounds like it would be very informative so I will definitely put it on my list. Thank you for the suggestion!

I highly recommend The German War by Nicholas Stargardt. The author used German diaries, letters and similar sources in an attempt to understand how the German people experienced WWII. It was fascinating and unlike any other book I’ve read about the war.

Several years ago, I read " Savage Continent " ( mentioned above ) fascinating tale of the years after the war and the internecine conflict that accompanied life for many years afterward . Today's NY Times has a review of a new book about Germany after May 1945 which looks particularly good - https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Fallout-Third-Reich-1945-1955/dp/0593319737 and the Times' review - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/books/review/aftermath-harald-jahner.html

Years ago I read John Toland's two volume book on Hitler, part of one of those book club four for one dollar signing-up specials. Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark is a very good general history, mainly concentrating on Prussia's influence on German history. Frederick the Great was an interesting chap.

Three German movies very much worth watching – The Tin Drum (I read the first novel in the trilogy), Das Boot, and, best of the lot, The Lives of Others. Oh, and the recent Jojo Rabbit is clever and funny.

Carroll, thank you so much for the suggestion. The German War sounds interesting and I have added it to my list.

steven, thanks for the NYT link! I enjoyed the review and look forward to reading the book. I wish I had time to read it in the original German, but my skillset isn't quite up to that yet.

Gundersen, those books look great and I will definitely check them out. I agree Der Alte Fritz was an interesting character - I wrote a short paper on him for one of my German classes and found his background fascinating. I will also look for the movies you mentioned. I've seen Das Boot before but it's been a very long time (it was my mother's favorite movie) so I will enjoy seeing it again. Thank you!

Tom, I'm sure you're right.

Although it is not a book, the web site named thirdreichruins.com is very interesting. It has photos of many places taken during or shortly after WWII. And then it has photos of the same places taken more recently. You might want to take a look at it before you go so you can apprectiate the changes.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/24/the-shortest-history-of-germany-review-james-hawes-mystery-heart-of-europe

The Shortest History of Germany. Succinct as the title suggests.

You can choose between the novel or Netflix.

From the movie, I think the focus falls more on Chamberlain.

Author Robert Harris speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about Munich: The Edge of War, the new Netflix film adapted from his 2017 historical novel Munich. They discuss the real history behind the 1938 Munich conference, the challenges of reassessing Neville Chamberlain, and what it’s like seeing your book adapted for the screen. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

• Published: 21/01/2022 12:00:33

• Episode Download link (20 MB): https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/historyextra/e/61e6d8aed8346b00132bd43a/media.mp3

• Show Notes: https://shows.acast.com/historyextra/episodes/munich-the-real-history-behind-the-new-film

• Episode feed: History Extra podcast - http://rss.acast.com/historyextra

Another museum idea, this one opened last year I believe, the Documentation Center for Displacement, Expulsion and Reconciliation. I believe it focuses on the Silesian, East Prussian and Pomeranian expellees and refugees at the end of WW2, but also covers other displaced people. Would have liked to see it had it been opened when we were in Berlin in 2019, as I've met some expellees over the years both in Europe and the US.

I visited the museum Rob mentioned in his post in September. I thought it was good. The first floor deals with forced migration in general. The second floor deals with forced migration specifically of ethnic Germans at the end of WWII.

I read the novel by Robert Harris the other year. It's a good read which tries to shine Chamberlain's decision making in a better light, though Churchill wouldn't have agreed with him.

Sadly, the German History Museum is closed for renovation, for the next several years I believe.

I read James Hawes' Shortest History of Germany before my recent trip and really appreciated the context it provided for all the centuries before the 20th. Looking for German history in my local library (a very good one for a smaller community) and bookstores, all I found was WWII and Holocaust. I know this is the period your post focuses on, but I thought it was sad that so little else was easily available to American readers.

My walking tour guide in Berlin asked us "How old is Germany?" Then he discussed the tribes that kept the Romans behind the Rhine, the Holy Roman Empire, the 19th century Prussian consolidation, and the present-day nation. It's very complicated and very interesting.

The Pity of It All: A Portrait of Jews in Germany 1743 - 1933 by Amos Elon personally has been the most interesting and fascinating book about German history I've ever read. Too many books about WWII and the Holocaust focus as Jews as victims, not people. And since Berlin was the center of Jewish life in Germany during this period, much of the book's focus is on Berlin. While it's not exactly an uplifting book, it's absolutely essential reading to understanding key elements of German history that non-Jewish writers leave out.

I would definitely read up on the White Rose (and Rote Kapelle) and of course the writings by its members / original leaflets

Ich war Hitlerjunge Saloman (aka Europa, Europa) by Saloman Perel

Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut

Poetry by Szymborska

The Hiding Place by ten Boom

Bonhoeffer

Just a few thoughts as you make your selections:
--To understand the rise of the Third Reich, reading about militarism and understanding its role in the rise of Nazism is critical
--Make sure you know the major events and names--terms like Nuremberg Race Laws, Kristallnacht, Munich Agreement, Operation Gomorrah, Valkyrie, and key battles are of course obvious. Everyone has heard of Goebbels and Himmler and Stauffenberg. But are you familiar with names like Wilhelm Canaris, Christoph Probst, Ilse Koch, Hanna Reitsch, Traudl Junge? Do you know the difference between Warsaw Uprising and the Ghetto Uprising? Hartheim? Pflichtjahr? Any history books that cover this material will work.
--there are TONS of interesting biographies and memoirs of ordinary citizens living through events like Dresden, the flight from Prussia/Silesia, and of course the events of the Holocaust.
--Read books that make you uncomfortable, that grapple with the way ordinary people did the unspeakable, books that don't wrap up neatly, books in which the randomness is recognised rather than ones which try to attribute survival to fate or some particular hero. Read books that do not paint the history as black-and-white, good guys vs. bad guys.

My grandmother's brother went MIA in the fall of 1944 somewhere in the Netherlands. I enjoyed Band of Brothers as much as the next person--I actually read it years before the miniseries came out--but by its very nature there are good guys and faceless bad guys. But I have a photo in my living room of one of those "faceless bad guys" and stories about his childhood. Any book that oversimplifies is to be avoided. Any book that aims to tell the story of a victim through any other lens should be treated with caution. Any story with heroic saving of others is also something about which to be cautious.

Find an angle that interests you. I am a horse person, so reading about the Trakehner breed and its "trek" from East Prussia is a way for me to access the history of that region. I also like memoirs.

I don't know if any of that was helpful or too preachy or whatever; if so, I apologise. Just some late night thoughts.

Thanks to all of you! I've been out of town (relaxing low-tech visit to the beach) and came back to find so many more wonderful ideas. I am finding the reads very enlightening but but also so devastating that it is hard to keep reading. I agree with HowlinMad, though, that it's important to keep reading books that are not remotely in our comfort zone. I once read a play in a German literature class called Biedermann und die Brandstifter by Max Frisch, about a man who allowed arsonists to come into his home and burn the place down. It's a little more complicated than that but the idea is that too many people accept things as they are, because they refuse to believe the unacceptable.

Again, thank you all so much - not just for the books and other recommendations but for all your thoughts.