Imperial Germany is a comprehensive history of German society in this period, providing a broad survey of its development. This volume is thematically organized and designed to give easy access to the major topics and issues of the Bismarckian and Wilhelmine eras. The statistical appendix contains a wide range of social , economic and political data. Written with the English-speaking student in mind, this book is widely used text for this period, incorporating as it does twenty years of further research on the German Empire since the appearance of Hans-Ulrich Wehlers classic work.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
...not a conventional political history but a comprehensive account of German society, alive to the conflict and contradictions in that society and attentive to broader social, economic, and cultural developments...He brings together new information and new data that had been available only in individual studies - on labor markets and cartels, industrial research and applied science; on social mobility, marriage patterns, generations and generational conflicts; on popular cultures, the press and the role of intellectuals, to mention but a few subjects. His analysis of what he terms losers in the development of German society is particularly instructive. An assessment of the role accorded women and the treatment of religious or ethnic minorities also him to judge Germanys ability to adapt to diversity, to see how the nation adjusted to modernity. -- New York Times Book Review
The publication of this book is a milestone in the historiography of the German Kaiserreich. It is that rare bird, an important and useful book both for teachers and scholars. First from the standpoint of its pedagogic value, those of us who teach the history of Germany in this period are well aware of a serious problem: there has been no up-to-date, accessible, synthetic text which we can assign our student...Berghahns volume fills this void in commendable fashion. Organized thematically rather chronologically, it deals in turn with the economy, society, culture, and politics. It is erudite and well written, ant it is filled with detail and biographical vignettes that successfully advance Berghahns thematic constructs... -- The Historian
Volker Berghahn has a long established reputation as one of the foremost experts on the Wilhelmine empire, and it is gratifying to have now a substantial treatment from him of Germany in that period, or at least until 1914... One emerges with the strong impressions of the society and culture, presented by an expert in the field... -- The Historical Association
The publication of this book is a milestone in the historiography of the German Kaiserreich. It is that rare bird, an important and useful book both for teachers and scholars. First from the standpoint of its pedagogic value, those of us who teach the history of Germany in this period are well aware of a serious problem: there has been no up-to-date, accessible, synthetic text which we can assign our student...Berghahns volume fills this void in commendable fashion. Organized thematically rather chronologically, it deals in turn with the economy, society, culture, and politics. It is erudite and well written, ant it is filled with detail and biographical vignettes that successfully advance Berghahns thematic constructs... -- The Historian
Volker Berghahn has a long established reputation as one of the foremost experts on the Wilhelmine empire, and it is gratifying to have now a substantial treatment from him of Germany in that period, or at least until 1914... One emerges with the strong impressions of the society and culture, presented by an expert in the field... -- The Historical Association
About the Author
Volker Berghahn is Seth Low Porfessor of History, Columbia University.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Overview,
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This review is from: Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, And Politics (Paperback)
Its great to see this valuable book back in print. This is a concise, combined historical overview and structural analysis of the Wilhelmine state. This book is structured in an unusual way. While it provides the basic narrative history, most of it is devoted to describing the basic features of Imperial Germany and how it changed over the period from its foundation to demise at the end of WWI. Berghahn covers basic demography, economic history, and the structures of politics. Unusually for a historian, Berghahn presents a great deal of the information in tabular form. This allows a more concise presentation. Berghahn is superb on the internal strains of the Wilhelmine state, an odd hybrid of traditional authoritarianism with some democratic elements. How these internal strains contributed to the often reckless foreign policies of Imperial Germany is discussed particularly well. The book concludes with the best concise description and analysis of the outbreak of WWI I've read. Recommended strongly for those interested in modern European history.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thorough reading on a very interesting subject,
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This review is from: Imperial Germany, 1871-1918: Economy, Society, Culture, And Politics (Paperback)
Berghahn's books offers a different way of looking at the German Empire; he offers clear and thorough topical readings on German economy, society and culture and closes his book with a description of how politics worked (or didn't) in Imperial Germany. Other historians tend to write chronologically, but Berghahn chooses differently and, in my humble opinion, this was a good decision, given the breadth of the material offered. Whereas Wolfgang Mommsen puts more stress on the role of the radicalizing middle class in the escalation of German foreign policy with a devastating war as a result, Berghahn paints a more general picture of a German government not being able to contain a pending conflict, while at the same time the interal situation is polarizing.
The many statitics in the book were insightful and I am going to enjoy this book in the future as an important reference book.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Statistical Germany,
By A Customer
This review is from: Imperial Germany, 1871-1914: Economy, Society, Culture, and Politics (Hardcover)
This book gives the reader a look at the statistical aspect of germany before the "Great War." It shows the reader why Germany thought it could win the war and also why it fought so well in the war. The book is a little hard to read because it throws quite a few numbers at you, but is still a bit interesting, espescially in the second half.
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It is of fundamental importance for an understanding of Germany's economic development in this period that the upward trend that had set in before the founding of the Kaiserreich continued in principle until the eve of World War I. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
left liberals, trade code, land laborers, suffrage systems, nationalist associations, trivial literature Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Social Democrats, German Empire, Social Democratic, Great Depression, Social Democracy, Center Party, Imperial Germany, Central Europe, United States, Reich Constitution, Federal Council, German Jews, General Staff, Agrarian League, Ruhr Poles, Industrial Revolution, North Sea, Criminal Code, Civil Code, Max Weber, National Liberals, Royal Navy, Tsarist Empire, Youth Movement Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
It is of fundamental importance for an understanding of Germany's economic development in this period that the upward trend that had set in before the founding of the Kaiserreich continued in principle until the eve of World War I. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
left liberals, trade code, land laborers, suffrage systems, nationalist associations, trivial literature Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Social Democrats, German Empire, Social Democratic, Great Depression, Social Democracy, Center Party, Imperial Germany, Central Europe, United States, Reich Constitution, Federal Council, German Jews, General Staff, Agrarian League, Ruhr Poles, Industrial Revolution, North Sea, Criminal Code, Civil Code, Max Weber, National Liberals, Royal Navy, Tsarist Empire, Youth Movement Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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