Germans Germany

For nearly a century, historians have depicted Germany as a rabidly nationalist land, born in a sea of aggression. Not so, says Helmut Walser Smith, who, in this groundbreaking 500-year history, challenges traditional perceptions of Germany's conflicted past, revealing a nation far more thematically complicated than 20th-century historians have imagined. 

Before 1871, Germany was not yet a nation but simply an idea. Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring 39 individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser? How would he convince proud Prussians, Bavarians, and Rhinelanders to become Germans? Once united, could the young European nation wield enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France - all without destroying itself in the process?

Germany is one of the richest and most influential countries in the world, which is amazing when you consider that the nation is only about the size of the US states of Oregon and Washington combined. It’s even more astounding when you consider that at the end of World War II, every major German city (and many minor ones) had been flattened by the Allied bombing campaign. Still more amazing is that the country has gone from international pariah and home of the Holocaust to one of the most well-regarded and humanitarian nations on Earth.

How does a nation recover from fascism and turn toward a free society once more? This internationally acclaimed revelatory history of the transformational decade that followed World War II illustrates how Germany raised itself out of the ashes of defeat and reckoned with the corruption of its...

Practical, fun and effective. Welcome to Learn with Paul Noble – a unique, tried and tested language learning method that has been used by millions. You'll be speaking German fluently and confidently in no time at all. Take a simple, relaxed approach to learning a language that has been proven...

This is the riveting and extraordinary story of Kapitan Herbert Cleff, presented here for the first time by Brian Brinkworth. Cleff, an officer on the staff of General Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma, attached to the 21st Panzer division operating in the Western desert, was captured near El Dab'a in Libya on the sixth of November, 1942. He was interrogated both in the Western Desert and in the United Kingdom, following assessments that led his British captors to believe that he might prove useful to the Allied war effort. During this interrogation period, Cleff kept releasing tantalizing snippets.

In the cold morning of June 6, 1944, thousands of German soldiers were in position from Port en Bessin eastward past Colleville on the Normandy coast, aware that a massive invasion force was heading straight for them, although according to Allied Intelligence, they shouldn't have been there. The presence of 352 Division meant that the number of defenders was literally double the number expected - and on the best fortified of all the invasion beaches. What makes this account of the bloody struggle unique is that it is told from the German standpoint, using firsthand testimony....

As Allied armies closed in from every direction, Adolf Hitler retreated deeper into isolation, fantasy, and denial. The Final Reckoning chronicles the dramatic final chapter of Nazi Germany, from the turning point of 1943 through the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945. It is a story of military disasters, political intrigue, secret weapons programs, assassination plots, propaganda campaigns, and increasingly desperate decisions made by a regime facing inevitable defeat. Readers are taken from the aftermath of Stalingrad and the Allied invasion of Europe to the final days inside Berlin's ...

A country both admired and feared, Germany has been the epicenter of world events time and again: the Reformation, both World Wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall. It did not emerge as a modern nation until 1871 - yet today, Germany is the world's fourth-largest economy and a standard-bearer of liberal democracy.

A definitive account of one of the darkest chapters in modern history, The Third Reich: A Complete History traces the rise, rule, and collapse of Nazi Germany from the aftermath of the First World War to its destruction in 1945. Thoroughly researched and vividly written, this book presents a complete narrative of how Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party emerged from political and economic crisis, transformed Germany into a totalitarian state, and led Europe into catastrophic war. Covering the political, military, social, and ideological dimensions of the regime, the book explores the collapse of...

Named a Best Book of 2026 So Far by The New Yorker “Crisply told and uncomfortably relevant.” —The New York Times Book Review “Exquisite.” —Wall Street Journal An astonishing account of life under a murderous regime amid a great city’s descent into utter annihilation In 1939, when...

Narrated by Derek Perkins From a renowned historian who writes with "maximum vividness" (The New Yorker) comes the most authoritative, readable single-volume military history of the brutal struggle for the Holy Land. Nine hundred years ago, a vast Christian army, summoned to holy war by the Pope...

The Cursed Generation: Untold Stories of Wehrmacht Soldiers For decades, the Holocaust has rightly occupied a central place in our understanding of history. Yet there is a less explored facet of World War II—the personal experiences of the soldiers who fought on the German side. The Cursed Generation fills this gap, offering a nuanced perspective that challenges sweeping generalizations. Germany's culture of remembrance struggles to separate Nazis from Wehrmacht soldiers, silencing many conversations about the latter's experiences. This fear of misjudgment has long affected the entire ...

He was one of the most feared tank commanders of the Second World War. He was also one of its most contested. Michael Wittmann rose from rural Bavaria to become the most famous Tiger commander in Germany — a decorated Waffen-SS officer whose name became synonymous with battlefield aggression, armoured shock, and the deadly reputation of the Tiger tank. But fame in wartime is never simple. In Michael Wittmann: Tiger Commander, Gary Mitchell takes readers far beyond the familiar “panzer ace” legend to tell the full story of the man behind the myth. This is a gripping narrative of combat...

Rommel: The Desert Fox — Genius and Tragedy is a gripping and balanced portrait of one of the most fascinating and controversial commanders of the Second World War, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Celebrated as a brilliant tactician and feared by his enemies, Rommel became a legend during the North African campaign, earning the enduring nickname “The Desert Fox.” Yet behind the myth stood a complex man shaped by ambition, duty, propaganda, and the moral contradictions of serving under Adolf Hitler. Drawing on wartime records, personal writings, and modern historical research, this book ...

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. Weimar Germany also shows that beneath its glossy veneer lay political turmoil that ultimately led to the demise of the republic and the rise of the radical right.

“Larson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.”—New York Times Book Review Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a...

"Masterful . . . [A] painstakingly researched, astonishingly erudite study…Tooze has added his name to the roll call of top-class scholars of Nazism." —Financial Times An extraordinary mythology has grown up around the Third Reich that hovers over political and moral debate even today. Adam...

Are you sick and tired of not being able to learn German fast? Have you tried endless other ways of learning German but nothing seems to stick? Not only will this audiobook give you the basic grammar rules, but also many fun exercises for you to practice. If you’ve never studied German before or if you’ve studied it but you need to go back to the basics to get better, this audiobook will provide you with everything you need, especially if you are planning on traveling to Germany!

A beautiful story of a brotherhood between enemies emerges from the horrors of World War II in this New York Times bestseller by the author of Devotion, now a major motion picture Four days before Christmas in 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its...