Weimar Germany

Promise and Tragedy, Weimar Centennial Edition

De: Eric D. Weitz

Narrado por: Robert Slade

This audiobook narrated by Robert G. Slade paints a riveting portrait of the Weimar era.

Weimar Germany brings to life an era of unmatched creativity in the 20th century - one whose influence and inspiration still resonate today. Eric Weitz has written the authoritative history that this fascinating and complex period deserves, and he illuminates the uniquely progressive achievements and even greater promise of the Weimar Republic. Weitz reveals how Germans rose from the turbulence and defeat of World War I and revolution to forge democratic institutions and make Berlin a world capital of avant-garde art. He explores the period’s groundbreaking cultural creativity, from architecture and theater, to the new field of "sexology" - and presents richly detailed portraits of some of the Weimar’s greatest figures.

Weimar Germany also shows that beneath this glossy veneer lay political turmoil that ultimately led to the demise of the republic and the rise of the radical right. Yet for decades after, the Weimar period continued to powerfully influence contemporary art, urban design, and intellectual life - from Tokyo to Ankara and Brasilia to New York. Featuring a new preface, this comprehensive and compelling book demonstrates why Weimar is an example of all that is liberating and all that can go wrong in a democracy.

©2018 Eric D. Weitz (P)2020 Princeton University Press

Reseñas de la Crítica

"[Weitz] bring[s] to bear his uncommon erudition and a prose style that is at once rigorous, wonderfully animated, and distinguished by breathtaking clarity." (Noah Isenberg, Bookforum)

"Weitz effortlessly blends politics and economics, philosophy and literature, art and architecture in a gripping portrait of a culture whose pathology was exceeded only by its creativity.... This is history at its best." (Josef Joffe, publisher and editor of Die Zeit and fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University)

"Excellent.... [A] superb introduction...probably the best available." (Eric Hobsbawm, London Review of Books)

Excellent and immersive

I particularly enjoyed all the details of daily life, economics, art and culture after having read other more historical books about the period. This book offers a rich deep dive together with historical context into details to understand this great period in democracy and the lessons it has to help understand our world today.

Very good

This is a great history of an often overshadowed period in German history. I would recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about the Weimar Republic. Also, the narrator was exceptional, I would definitely put him up there with Grover Gardner for best narrators.

An Amazing, Ultimate Guide to Weimar Germany 10/10

Weitz has written a truly unparoled guide to Weimar Germany. He extrapolates key lessons and ideas applicable to a wide range of society and politics that are expertly argued. One of my biggest takeaways is that the insight provided by Weitz is greatly applicable and could serve as a warning to the reader about the chaotic and divided nature of the United States today.

Narrow perspective on the history of Weimar

Narrative gets lost in the description of particular architects or artists.
Interesting insight into the Zeitgeist of the Weimar Rep but weak in tying it together with the political machinations in the background.

Performance is borderline pathetic - A reader that is utterly incapable of pronouncing anything German is a disgrace - as a German speaker i couldn't understand anything this guy was saying - very distracting and doesnt do the material justice.

Fire the Narrator

The content of the audiobook met my expectations helped me achieve my learning goals, but the narrator kept speaking quotes with horrible imitation of the speech of the person who wrote the quote. If you don't want your listeners to experience irritation every time you speak a quote, say the quote and indicate somehow that is a quote if you can't hire someone who can imitate accents well.

Good Cultural History; Bad Narration

This wonderful, topically-organized book explores all the great cultural shifts, political crises, and creative movements within the Weimar era (1918-1933), from Expressionist films to the Treaty of Versailles to The Magic Mountain to the rise of the Nazis. Some sections are really excellent, like the explanation of why the Treaty of Versailles was so odious across Germany’s vast political spectrum, or the discussion of the shared language of the German right. But really, it’s all here—the things you expect (Caligari, Kurt Weill, hyperinflation) and plenty more that you don’t. It’s an astoundingly thorough treatment of an exciting period in modern history, told in an engaging style. You’ll learn about Weimar architectural theory, avant-garde collages, the first modern marriage manuals, the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, and the best-selling novels that defined interwar Germany. You’ll meet leftist revolutionaries, conservative reactionaries, and everything in between. More than any history book I’ve ever read—and I’ve read quite a few—this book gives a sense of time and place that makes you feel like you’re actually encountering the people, ideas, and anxieties of the Weimar era as they faced an uncertain future in the Age of the Machine.

As a historian, author Eric D. Weitz’s prejudices are that of the typical American academic: basically, he thinks the German Left didn’t go far enough during the Weimar years in challenging social and cultural norms. He shakes his head at Weimar’s positive obsession with making sex socially beneficial rather than just a source of private pleasure, and chides German intellectuals for their hand-wringing over the rise of modern mass entertainment (why can’t the workers just have a little fun?). His treatment of right-wing figures is usually somewhat sarcastic, although not the point of being unfair. He grants that German Christianity, for example, had moral resources that should have made them wary of Germany’s (often anti-Christian) far right, and even acknowledges that many right-wing ideologues (even among the Nazis) were well-educated and highly cultured rather than common thugs. Because Weitz makes no effort to conceal his biases, and makes use of extensive quotations to back up his interpretations, it doesn’t become a significant issue. Just be aware that that’s his general take on the Weimar culture wars.

I do have two issues with the narration by Robert Slade. First, he oversells the tone of pompous moralizing when reading statements from doctors, politicians, and (especially) clergy. It’s plain bad acting, and the producer really should have stepped in and told him to tone it down. The texts speak for themselves—and anyways, Weitz makes it clear when he quoting someone merely to highlight the absurdity of their views. Second, I have a suspicion Slade lied about being able to speak German in order to get this job, because he constantly trots out a labored pseudo-German accent and just as constantly mispronounces the German words and names he’s using. To give two examples from the chapter on the rise of the far right, he pronounces Franz von Papen as “pay-pen” (it should be “pah-pen”) and Reinhard Heydrich as “hay-drik” (it should be “high-drik”). Besides being slightly annoying, it’s distracting to hear someone who’s obviously faking his way through a narration job he wasn’t qualified for. This book deserves better.

Great....for Non-Fiction

Thorough and interesting...Not a Thrilling Tale of the Nazi Rise to Power so don't get ur hopes up if ur looking for a History Channel Audiobook...but an engaging (if long) look at all the facets of interwar Germany.
Reader does accents subtly and respectfully and only to highlight direct quotes.

The history of Weimar Germany, that I have been looking for.

This is a brilliant coverage of the years between the world wars. It is a complete history of the politics, economics, art, and philosophy that explains much even about our current world today.

Nice to refresh the era

Sometimes overlapping content between chapters. Strong focus on cultural achievements. Did not the like the silly accent imitations.

Detailed

The audiobook is read superbly. Now, the length of the book could have been halved without any significant loss of information. What I liked most about it is its organization into subject per chapter rather than chronologically. A book for the patient reader/listener.