Faust’s Metropolis: A History of Berlin

Faust’s Metropolis: A History of Berlin
Alexandra Richie

A radical and exciting history of a city – its culture, its people and its politics – that refreshes our image of Europe’s past and of the writing of history itself.In Berlin, history is tangible. The sense of the past – of Europe, of Germany, and in particular of the twentieth century with its myths, depravities, idealism and horror – hangs in the air around the old Hinterhofs and deserted railway stations. No other city has played such a part in the tides of twentieth-century European affairs.Faust’s Metropolis is a rich and inspiring history of this city, a breathtaking portrait of its people and a thorough evaluation of its achievements and errors. From the revolutionary fervour of its teeming slums, the insufferable pomp of Imperial Berlin, and the frantic modernism of Weimar to the brutality of the Nazis and the symbolic defeat of communism as the Wall came down, Berlin has played host to all the movements that have uplifted and afflicted German and European history. Alexandra Richie writes superbly of its role as a crucible of change.Full of humour and with an inimitable personal view of the modern capital of reunited Germany, Faust’s Metropolis also offers a scholarly, thematic analysis of the ways in which the city has reinvented itself through the ages, the tensions which historically existed between Berliners and other Germans, the crucial role which Berlin has played in shaping the political and cultural life of Europe. In drawing together the complex strands of its actual and imagined past, Alexandra Richie reveals herself as an extraordinary new talent in her field.

FAUST’S METROPOLIS

A HISTORY OF BERLIN

ALEXANDRA RICHIE

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_d29601af-8afd-59e2-90be-b68c66440dda)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers in 1998

Ebook edition published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2013

Copyright © Alexandra Richie 1998

Alexandra Richie asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780002158961

Ebook Edition © SEPTEMBER 2013 ISBN: 9780007455492

Version: 2017-04-25

DEDICATION (#ulink_c762dc3b-f0a8-5aea-8729-eeb3ed225a62)

For Władysław Bartoszewski

CONTENTS

COVER (#u2c9a6a31-3323-59c5-bec3-7d64a3849cb0)

TITLE PAGE (#u4c2301ab-3a74-5359-931e-fb7f6c67e0f0)

COPYRIGHT (#ueba558ab-e70e-5a4d-9594-8912ba66b8e2)

DEDICATION (#u803175df-3af6-5e49-b2a0-bd566f962c30)

PREFACE (#ub0bf856b-ec74-5cf9-bfdd-93790b733e8c)

LIST OF MAPS (#u03cf1c9e-d35c-5b9f-b3a6-5f72b4da31c6)

INTRODUCTION (#u597a907c-4b89-5fb6-8c2d-3f71b286c724)

I: History, Myth, and the Birth of Berlin (#u0914ae18-bc32-55a1-920d-a45074f64354)

II: The Capital of Absolutism (#uc459f80d-5418-5918-afff-f3aecfff1318)

III: The Emerging Giant (#u93019fe1-239d-5bdf-afbf-b429ca1ce8f2)

IV: From Revolution to Realpolitik (#u2281da45-1ffc-54e2-a88d-78a44348cc61)

V: The Rise of Red Berlin (#udd702406-f18a-5621-89f2-0b97eea5a537)

VI: Imperial Berlin (#u6ba3dadf-63fb-56bc-92e9-c09d9dc8fcbe)

VII: The Road to the First World War (#ufd82cf79-7eed-509a-b1a5-358603d4f61b)

VIII: The Bitter Aftermath of War (#litres_trial_promo)

IX: The Golden Twenties (#litres_trial_promo)

X: The Betrayal of Weimar (#litres_trial_promo)

XI: Nazi Berlin – Life Before the Storm (#litres_trial_promo)

XII: The Second World War (#litres_trial_promo)

XIII: The Fall of Berlin (#litres_trial_promo)

XIV: The Berlin Crisis and the Cold War (#litres_trial_promo)

XV: Flashpoint Berlin (#litres_trial_promo)

XVI: East Berlin (#litres_trial_promo)

XVII: The Walled City – West Berlin (#litres_trial_promo)

XVIII: The New Capital (#litres_trial_promo)

KEEP READING … (#litres_trial_promo)

NOTES (#litres_trial_promo)

INDEX (#litres_trial_promo)