The Birthday King (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr (T) (September 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226248488
• ISBN-13: 978-0226248486
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,698,517 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hitlers Germany through the eyes of the Germans, May 1, 2003

By	"tommygj" (Vancouver, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The birthday king (Phoenix fiction) (Paperback)

I found this book in my parents library; it had been there while I was growing up. 30 years later I wanted to find out what it was about.
The premise of the story starts with a lot of dialog between the characters that will play into the story line. Mostly political discussions into what they feel is happening to their country. I found this a little hard to follow; the names were complex,ie everyone had several different names and professions. Most importantly we see the evolution of Hitlers germany through the views of the residents, a family running an industrial business. Later the characters come together and try to influence each other in their way of thinking and what is best for the future of their business regardless of the outcome of the war. They were deciding what is the more important values they wished to retain.
The story spans the years 1939 to 1945. Most interesting is how the characters evolved based on things that were happening to their country; changing their minds often to fit the mood of what was happening.
It all comes together in the end as the allied forces are approaching the city of Berlin; they must decide what will become of them and how they will be judged for their activities the past few years.
A very complex story, yet quite simple.
Most of all, this is the first story I have read that actually shows the feeling of the German people who were drawn into a war that they didn't fully understand and feared what would happen to them in the end and therefore were planning what to do after the enevitable loss of Germany.