In Europe's Name: Germany and the Divided Continent [Hardcover]

Timothy Garton Ash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 1993

An Oxford fellow and author of two previous volumes on central Europe publishes his landmark study on today's Germany, examining the impact of a united Germany on European economics, demographics, and politics. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

How a divided Germany achieved reunification in 1990 is a story fraught with ironies and paradoxes in Ash's searching, magisterial study. West German policymakers, argues this distinguished British historian, built up a reserve of trust and good will by acceding peacefully to the "golden handcuffs" slapped on by the Western alliance, limiting Germany's sovereignty and curtailing its military power. Ash ( The Uses of Adversity ) investigates Bonn's precarious balancing act between NATO and the Soviet Union, as West German leaders convinced Moscow that it was the U.S.S.R's most promising economic partner. Meanwhile, suggests Ash, West Germany's failure to protest Communist East Germany's diehard policy of stabilization without reform inadvertently led East Germany to ruin. His study draws on memoirs, interviews with key players and on the declassified files of East Germany's secret police and Communist Party. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This well-documented and detailed account of German reunification spans the period from Yalta right up to 1990 when the Berlin Wall crumbled and East Germans poured through the crack to the West. Ash, author of numerous books on Central Europe, uses mostly German source documents, many of which became available only recently with the collapse of East Germany. The centerpiece of his book is the history of "ostpolitik" and how it fit into West German foreign policy goals, especially toward the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Ostpolitik is also analyzed as a strictly German response to the so-called German question. West Germany's relations with the United States take a back seat to Bonn's relations with the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Europe as a whole. A scholarly book that will also be of interest to the informed lay person, this is a superb choice for all academic libraries and larger public libraries.
- Stephen Green, Auraria Lib., Denver
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 680 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First U.S. edition (November 16, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394557115
• ISBN-13: 978-0394557113
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,538,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable yet still scholarly account of Ostpolitik, August 22, 1998

By 

nessanders (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Europe's Name: Germany and the Divided Continent (Paperback)

Timothy Garton Ash has mastered the art of telling a story in an involving and interesting way, yet without sacrificing scholarly exactitude or resorting to simplification. In this, his most scholarly work, Garton Ash takes a hard look at Germany's political history in the centre of Europe, focusing on the theme of 'Ostpolitik' -- West Germany's policy of how to deal with the East: East Germany, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union. He presents two sides for every position, yet his own thinking permeates the book.

Because of its scholarly nature, this book is less accessible to the general audience than Garton Ash's other books, but for those interested in Germany's role in Europe's past, present and future, this book is an absolute must.