James Hawes (1) (1960–)

A breezy history that confidently speeds through prehistory through roman influence, skips the carolingians, dips into the HRE and Teutonic Order and then grinds to a halt around the 1800s to develop a thesis about the horrible Prussian influence on the German soul, the impact of which not only results in WWI but is to blame for WWII and the lingering effects of which still resonate today. That latter point is what gets the most criticism in an otherwise pretty good speedrun. We get some postwar Germany and reunification as well. The very end is the most political as it relates to current world issues (Merkel, migration and AfD) and your opinion on that breaks by how much you agree with the author's take on said events. It's at least up to date, where a safer approach might have been to leave the narrative somewhere after reunification.… (more)

Sparse smatterings of interesting facts intertwined with large sections of total hyperbole and bias. This is not a history book, rather an opinion piece on why Catholicism is the greatest thing to happen to Europe, whilst the 'barbaric' east Germans have always held it back. Perhaps if the author consistently took the same magnifying glass to the corruption and misgivings of West Germany, then perhaps the book would be slightly more rounded and balanced. There are some topics which display a total lack of understanding, and to be honest I struggled to read on past the misinformed part about Hegel. The conclusion also seemed off-kilter, is the author suggesting that East Germany be turned into an independent state just to save Europe? However, the author has excellent prose and can be funny at points, it's just a shame that this book reads more like a Dailymail-does-history opinion piece.… (more)