Before the Deluge: Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s, A Paperback – Import, 13 October 1995

Passionnant de bout en bout, cet ouvrage couvre toute l'histoire politique, économique, culturelle et intellectuelle de l'Allemagne de la fin de la 1ère guerre mondiale jusqu'à la prise de pouvoir d'Adolphe Hitler.Ouvrage très vivant permettant de bien comprendre le Berlin d'avant-garde, la permissivité radicale de la capitale, sa grande misère parfois et pourquoi et comment les nationaux-socialistes ont pris le pouvoir.

If you've ever wondered how Hitler and the Nazi's could have come to power read this book about the years between the World Wars. Each chapter covers a year leading up to the Nazi's takeover. Within each chapter are vignettes reflecting historical, military, social and cultural developments in Germany.Germany was a defeated nation being strangled by war reparations. It transitioned from a monarchy to a republic. There were amazing cultural, scientific and cultural developments during this brief period. It can be argued that Berlin was the cultural hub of Europe at this time. Yet, the worst of humanity was to seize the reins of power. And the great scientific and cultural figures of Germany fled to other parts of the West thereby enriching other countries.Fascinating, important read.

After reading numerous histories of the Weimar Republic, reading this book I was cheering - yes! This is what I have been looking for! It contains all of the information - in many cases, more accurate and more detailed than other sources - and is told in an excellent journalistic, even storytelling style that makes the events compelling and immediate. Though it was written in 1972 it's still the first book I would recommend anyone to read about the period.

A very good condition used book but the book exterior was wreaking of tobacco which I had to clean off. By far the best description of the 1910-1945 Berlin I have read and includes how the tremendous inflation problem where the Weimar Republic currency reached a billion marks to the dollar was solved. How Hindenburg was linked to the rise of Hitler. Detailed information on German architecture, music, art and literature. This bookdeserves a reprint, a long read with great detail,highly recommended if you can find a copy.

This was the most comprehensive book I have read on the turbulent political times in Germany between the two World Wars. It concentrates on Berlin, but not exclusively. The author details the unending, wrangling between the Allies and the Germans about the Versailles Treaty, the constant changing of who was in charge of the government along with the economic woes and the efforts of the various political factions to address it.He also covers art, architecture and science and how each of these disciplines flourished and fared first of all under the government of Ebert, Rathenau, Von Pappen and then under the Nazi Government.To fully understand (even on an amateur level) the complex political landscape that Germany was in the 1920's and early '30's this book should be read more than once.