Set in Germany from 1760-64,"The Merchant of Berlin" is based on true events of that time, featuring John Gotzkowsky - the merchant - at the heart of the narrative.

After a peaceful opening in Berlin, the city is faced with the threat of the invading Russian and Austrian armies. At length they realise that have to surrender the town and pay a war-tax or be massacred. The Germans debate which army would be best to pay and surrender to. They choose the Russians, with whom Gotzkowsky has some influence with one of the leaders.

In fact Gotzkowsky has influence on virtually everyone he encounters. He is a rich man with a silver tongue. His money and his eloquence are used to good effect. What's more, he is not a greedy man in any respect. He values honour above wealth - unlike most of his fellow Germans who, when the Russians are long gone,forget their gratitude to Gotzkowsky years later when his endless generosity leaves him a pauper.

Gotzkowsky, in reality, wrote a book about his life as a sort of revenge upon those ungrateful "friends" of his. He named nobody but that didn't matter.

To quote from this novel:

"The very simplicity and truthfulness of this "Biography of a Patriotic Merchant" procured for it an enormous success, and made the long-forgotten, much-calumniated Gotzkowsky for a while the topic of conversation, not only in Berlin, but throughout all Germany. Every one wanted to read the book. All wished to have the malicious pleasure of seeing how much people of rank, communities, cities, and princes, were indebted to this man, and how pitilessly they had let him sink."

And:

"Gotzkowsky's name passed into oblivion. But history preserved it, and still holds him up as an example, not only of the most noble patriotism, but also of the ingratitude of men."

As for the way Luise Mühlbach presents this work, I must say I found it lacking in many places. At times it was interesting - even absorbing - but too often I found myself bored with lengthy paragraphs that didn't amount to much.

Luise Mühlbach is not a bad writer at all, as her other works have proven, but sometimes she has lulls, as she does in many instances in this tome. ( )