For the past 140 years; Germany has been the central power in continental europe. Twenty-five years ago a new German state came into being. How much do we really understand this new Germany; and how do its people understand themselves?Neil MacGregor argues that; uniquely for any European country; no coherent; overarching narrative of Germany's history can be constructed; for in Germany both geography and history have always been unstable. Its frontiers have constantly shifted. Königsberg; home to the greatest German philosopher; Immanuel Kant; is now Kaliningrad; Russia; Strasbourg; in whose cathedral Wolfgang von Geothe; Germany's greatest writer; discovered the distinctiveness of his country's art and history; now lies within the borders of France. For most of the five hundred years covered by this book Germany has been composed of many separate political units; each with a distinct history. And any comfortable national story Germans might have told themselves before 1914 was destroyed by the events of the following thirty years.German history may be inherently fragmented; but it contains a large number of widely shared memories; awarenesses; and experiences; examining some of these is the purpose of this book. MacGregor chooses objects and ideas; people and places that still resonate in the new Germany—porcelain from Dresden and rubble from its ruins; Bauhaus design and the German sausage; the crown of Charlemagne and the gates of Buchenwald—to show us something of its collective imagination. There has never been a book about Germany quite like it.
#4068026 in Books #File Name: 0993324606
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