Reading recommendations on Weimar Germany?

[temper_tantrum]

(Wasn't sure whether to put this in politics, or books, or history, so feel free to move it if necessary, mods )

Could anyone point me towards some good introductory material on Weimar Germany? Not just politics (although that would be interesting) but also social history etc.
I've just finished reading 'A Social History Of The Third Reich' by Richard Grunberger (edit: which was recommended on some thread or other on here, I think maybe by DotCom ...), and I was interested in the pre-1914 SPD section in Paul Mason's 'Live Working Or Die Fighting'. I quite fancy some reading which is pitched at a similar level to those two books (ie. aimed at a reasonably generalist audience ), and that kind of content, but covers the Weimar period.
Web links, books, etc. all welcome.
Anyone please?

 

[butchersapron]

You really want Detlev Peukert's book The Weimar Republic : the Crisis of Classical Modernity. One of the all time greats. I've got loads more if you want but can't do until tmw

 

[temper_tantrum]

Cheers, that would be great Will add Peukert to my reading list.

 

[Belushi]

Mein Kampf

 

[ViolentPanda]

Butch is right with the Peukert. It's the best "all-rounder", but many other books have interesting stuff to say. Bracher's "The German Dictatorship" is interesting on the failure of Weimar to stem Nazism, not least because of the Weimar constitution.

You don't make clear whether you want to look into the history and/or culture and/or politics of Weimar Germany, though, so it's hard to make any definitive recommendation(s).

 

[ViolentPanda]

Mein Kampf

Go to your room without any tea, young man.

 

[temper_tantrum]

You don't make clear whether you want to look into the history and/or culture and/or politics of Weimar Germany, though, so it's hard to make any definitive recommendation(s).

It's no help if I say all, is it?!

Edit: I guess history and politics mostly, tbh.

 

[articul8]

This is a pretty wide-ranging reading list:
http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/academicsupport/subjects/german/readlists/_files/fileuploadmax10mb,168197,en.pdf

I'm wracking my brains to think of a classic book I was recommended on Weimar culture - German author, not that it narrows it down much

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Lost Revolution - Chris Harman is about 1918-23 and is a fascinating insight into the 5yr unstable period. It's from a left wing political perspective.

 

[temper_tantrum]

Thanks for the reading list and the Harman recc Quick query on Harman: I don't want to be partisan, but he was a Swappie, right? Is his work still worth reading?

 

[Kaka Tim]

Well known but not mentioned yet - 'Fairwell to Berlin' - Christopher Isherwoods biographical account of his time in early 30s germany. later adapted as the musical and film Cabaret. Both good.

 

[frogwoman]

if you want to see how the Nazis were looking at the period i would say that the German Propaganda Archive is a good place to look as it describes the difficulties faced by party members in convincing others of Nazi gospels before and after their victory in 1933 and to some extent dispels the myth that all of the german working class were united behind Hitler. There's plenty of fash whining about old men in pubs who complain about everything and make casual remarks defending the jews. Am currently reading a book by Tim Mason as well which covers similar subjects.

here:

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/responses.htm (go back to the main page, they've got a ton of different stuff)

As soon as I have some more money I'll get the book that Butchers recommended tho as I've heard good things about it.

 

[StraightOuttaQ]

To my mind, Volume's 1 and 2 of "Nazism 1919-1945: A Documentary Reader" by J.Noakes And G.Pridham are definitive and essential. Lots of primary sources and original documents. Vol1 is more slender but covers is entitled "The Rise To Power 1919-1934", Vol2 is "State, Economy And Society 1933-1939".. That should cover a lot of ground. There's alos something called "To Tell The Story: reflections of my youth in Germany 1921-1939" by Werner Mayer. There's some interesting material in "The Burden of German History 1919-1945", especially Chapter 7 on the breakthrough of the NSDAP in the later weimar years. "Versailles 20 years after" by P. Bridswell is also recommended.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

http://www.amazon.com/German-Freiko...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315354494&sr=1-1

 

[temper_tantrum]

Lost Revolution - Chris Harman is about 1918-23 and is a fascinating insight into the 5yr unstable period. It's from a left wing political perspective.

Just finished reading this, it was very good There was a slightly obvious political flavour to some of his interpretation, I thought, but perhaps I was being a bit paranoid? Would very much like to read other leftwing perspectives on the period, eg. anarchist etc.

Put the Peukert book on my Xmas list

Really *not* so interested in 'rise of the Nazis'-type books, to be honest, although more general political coverage of the 1918-23 period is certainly enlightening in that regard.

 

[butchersapron]

Just finished reading this, it was very good There was a slightly obvious political flavour to some of his interpretation, I thought, but perhaps I was being a bit paranoid? Would very much like to read other leftwing perspectives on the period, eg. anarchist etc.

Put the Peukert book on my Xmas list

Really *not* so interested in 'rise of the Nazis'-type books, to be honest, although more general political coverage of the 1918-23 period is certainly enlightening in that regard.

Harman is totally secondary sources in english, with join the party added on top. It's a very slanted summary of the good books mentioned.

 

[temper_tantrum]

Harman is totally secondary sources in english, with join the party added on top. It's a very slanted summary of the good books mentioned.

Yeah it was a useful summary introduction but makes me interested to read more widely.
When you say 'the books mentioned', do you mean on this thread?
As I say, hoping to get the Peukert. Any others in particular for my Xmas list?

Edit: Yeah, 'join the party' is exactly what I was getting at re: political angle. It got a little repetitive ...

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Thanks for the reading list and the Harman recc Quick query on Harman: I don't want to be partisan, but he was a Swappie, right? Is his work still worth reading?

Yes he was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Harman

Anyone who can plough through all the German revolution sources gets respect from me anyhow.

 

[rekil]

Political Violence in the Weimar Republic, 1918-1933: Fight for the Streets and Fear of Civil War by Dirk Schumann.

The hardback is so pricey it might as well be made out of solid platinum but the paperback edition is out in a couple of months.

 

[Greebo]

If you don't mind fiction, try "Little man, what now?" by Hans Fallada. Or "Wolf amongst wolves" by the same author. Both are set during the Weimar Republic's time. Both give an idea of how day to day life of ordinary people was affected.

 

[temper_tantrum]

Political Violence in the Weimar Republic, 1918-1933: Fight for the Streets and Fear of Civil War by Dirk Schumann.

The hardback is so pricey it might as well be made out of solid platinum but the paperback edition is out in a couple of months.

Woah epic bump Thanks

 

[Das Uberdog]

if you're interested in a history of Weimar via film then 'From Caligari to Hitler' by Kracauer is fantastic

 

[temper_tantrum]

Did someone on here recommend 'Before the Deluge' by Otto Friedrich? (And if not, how did I come across it? )

Anyway, almost finished it and really enjoying it. Anyone read it and have views?

(Am still in the market for further recommendations btw if anyone has any more. Have got some of the above on my reading list ).

 

[articul8]

bit of a general one but, John Willett
---. 1978. Art and Politics in the Weimar Period: The New Sobriety 1917-1933. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. ISBN 0-306-80724-6.

 

[butchersapron]

Arthur Rosenberg's A History of the German Republic, whilst outdated in many ways, is still a classic as it's happening (just happened actually) account from a classical marxist perspective. For a modern look at the early period Richard Bessel's Germany After the First World War is a good start point.

 

[temper_tantrum]

Cheers

Been having a look at the reading list posted above ^^^, and spotted Ian Kershaw (ed), 'Weimar: Why Did German Democracy Fail?' (1990). Looks interesting, and a friend of mine rates Kershaw - anyone read it and know if it's any good?

Edit: Also 'From Weimar to Auschwitz. Essays in German History' by Hans Mommsen (1991) - same question.

 

[butchersapron]

It's a very good intro to the academic debates around Weimar - intro gives overview of the various theories which are then put to work in the following chapters. Recommended after getting a grasp of the actual events and their context first or the debates will not mean very much to you.

 

[temper_tantrum]

I've read the Peukert book and also 'Before The Deluge'. (And that Harman one). So I think I've got a reasonable grasp of the events, in a broad-brush sense. I think I'm going to read Peukert again at some point - or maybe read bits of it again, dipping in and out.
Anyway, I've reserved the Kershaw book at my local library, so if I don't like it, I can always just hand it back
PS. Thanks btw!

Edit: Am probably also going to read 'Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy' (Weitz, 2007), as it seems to be popular. (And according to one of the Amazon reviews, it will please 'rabid feminists' ).
Edit again: And I just found a copy of the Bracher book on Amazon for 1p, so I've bought it

Edit again: BTW Butchers, have you read this and if so what did you think about it? I'd be interested in any input you might have (and also other reading reccs for the subject):
http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...a-biography-of-the-welfare-state-1995.277721/

 

[butchersapron]

Nope, not read it.

PM Press have just brought out All Power to the Councils: A Documentary History of The German Revolution 1918-19. Little heavy on the spartacus/Rosa/Karl stuff, but some really important stuff as well.

 

[butchersapron]

This meeting may interest some:
The Lost Revolution, Germany 1918 - 1923

Thursday January 24th.
7:30pm
5th Floor, Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft. (the same hamilton house radical alternative venue that hung up a congratulations george poster on the mayoral victory of right-wing austerity-nut George Ferguson).

In 1918 Lenin stated "without the revolution in Germany we are doomed". He was referring to the dangers of isolation of the new Russian Revoultion should workers' revolution not spread abroad. Yet in Germany the Kaiser was overthrown and it appeared for a time that revolution would succeeed. But as events unfolded the revolutionary movement lost its way, zig-zagging between adventurism and conservatism. By 1923 the revolution was lost and a decade later the tragedy of nazism began.This meeting, organised by Bristol Stokes Croft Socialist Workers Party, and introduced by Huw Williams, traces these events and asks what lessons can be learnt for today.

I wonder what lessons they may be