I found this book very enjoyable: convincing as a work of history, vivid in detail and surprisingly light in touch given its subject matter. The book is more about the origins and development of right-wing extremism in Bavaria as a whole, rather than just Munich. But of course it is the capital that has always attracted most attention, thanks partly to its cultural pre-eminence in German life and rather more to the fact that Hitler and the Nazis started up there. What the book brings out most clearly is a) the existence of far-right attitudes and anti-Semitism many years before Hitler's arrival in Munich, and b) the way in which Bavaria's abortive Soviet revolution in 1919 turned most of the population into ultra-conservatives unable to see clearly the terrible dangers inherent in Nazism. Even today, Bavaria is the most conservative of German states, and there are still Bavarians alive who prefer to remember the war more for the Allied bombing of Munich than for the abominations committed by the Nazis and SS.

Large can certainly write a smooth and engaging narrative. But that's about all that I can recommend about this book. Large's caustic and cynical view of Berlin and Berliners is can be extremely off-putting, bordering at times on the offensive. I found his particular comment that the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church looked better after the carpet bombing of World War II than before to be extremley offensive, especially in light of how many thousands of Berlin's civilians were killed during that particular episode of "architectural improvement."

Add to this that the book seems to lack any sort of historical context, placing artistic, social and political movements apart from similar movements that were sweeping through other European cities of the time, and I find it very difficult to recommend this book to anybody.

Once again David C. Large proposes that college required reading and a sense of humor can be assimilated. Stating that the "Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church looked better after the carpet bombing of World War II than before" is comical, yet sadly true! Large educates the reader about Europe's most captivating city, Berlin! He manages to not only remind us of its beauty, but that it is a romantisch city that need not be known only as the former Nazi capital. A consistent and entertaining book, an asset to history itself. Steve Newman

Any fan of the city must read this book. This history of Berlin from its time as the Prussian capital to today covers such varied topics as music under the Nazis (I learned some things about Richard Strauss and Herbert von Karajan I hadn't known before!), Wall escape attempts, and the problems of reunification, among others. It's liberally sprinkled with examples of the famous Berliner sense of humor. A great read for the novice or the experienced Berlinophile. My one major grumble: the Cold War era section covers the western half of the city far more extensively than the eastern half. I would have liked to see more about life on the "other side". Minor quibble: being a first edition, it suffers from a very noticeable number of typos. Still a fantastic introduction -- or reintroduction -- to the city on the Spree.