Preface
Introduction:
Robert Gerwarth is Professor of Modern History at UCD and Director
of the Centre for War Studies. He is the author of The Bismarck
Myth (Oxford UP, 2005) and a biography of Reinhard Heydrich (Yale
UP, 2011). His third monograph, The Vanquished: Why the First World
War Failed to End was published by Penguin (UK) and FSG (US) in the
autumn of 2016. He has authored several articles in leading
international journals such as Past &
Present, The Journal of Modern History, Geschichte & Gesellschaft,
and Vingtième Siècle. His work has been translated into some thirty
languages.
Gerwarth argues in his polished narrative drawing on the eyewitness
testimony of famous writers and thinkers that Weimar was not "the
doomed republic" of legend, a hopeless 14-year interval between a
warmongering Kaiser and Hitlers Nazi dictatorship, but a success in
its own right... 'November 1918' is a perceptive study of an
orderly people who proved that a revolution need not lead to
extremes of left and right.
*Martin Ivens, The Times*
Gerwarth's November 1918 [is one] of the most stimulating histories
of the interwar period to have been published in recent years.
*Tony Barber, The Financial Times*
Gerwarth's scholarship cannot be faulted... a superlative piece of
research into a sequence of events that are of immense
importance.
*Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph*
Readable and informative.
*Jonathan Sperber, Times Literary Supplement*
Authoritative new account... Gerwarth has... done us [a] service by
rescuing the Weimar Republic from what EP Thompson, in another
context, called 'the enormous condescension of posterity'.
*Brendan Simms, The Irish Times*
[Gerwarth's] account is written in clear prose and richly
documented with eyewitness accounts from the most vivid diaries and
correspondence of the period. As an audacious bid to restore the
German Revolution to its rightful place in history, November 1918
could hardly have been more skillfully executed.
*Daniel Johnson, Claremont Review of Books*
...stands out as one of the most successful...
*Alexander Gallus, German Historical Institute London Bulletin*
Splendidly researched, and with a striking new thesis... a
fascinating study, whose insights will stop you dead even if you
thought, as I did, that you already knew this stuff.
*James Hawse, The Spectator*
Thought-provoking and readable ... Gerwarth's invaluable book shows
that, compared to their counterparts in other central European
states facing similar turmoil, the moderate German revolutionaries
had spectacular success in securing their democracy. By 1929, only
cataclysmic economic crisis could overturn what was Europes most
open and representative liberal state. Hitler, it seems, got
lucky.
*Alexander Watson, Literary Review*
its salutary to have a fresh account of the birthing pains of that
vaunted republic rather than another autopsy of its demise Where
Gerwarth most excels is deftly weaving together the impressions of
contemporary commentators, of whom he has assembled a rich banquet:
Victor Serge, Thomas Mann, Kaethe Kollwitz, Alfred Doeblin, Harry
Graf Kessler, and Joseph Roth, among others.
*Thomas Meaney, The Washington Examiner*
A fascinating narrative of the events that transpired during the
time in which Germans called for a more democratic government and
more political and social freedom. Throughout the book, the author
balances small biographies of important political leaders with the
extensive use of newspapers, memoirs, and letterseffectively giving
those who lived through the revolution a voice Gerwarths book is a
wonderful addition to the history of the Weimar Republic.
*Louis Grün, Origins*
November 1918 provides a first-rate survey of events and
personalities surrounding the revolution in Germany ... Robert
Gerwarth has written a detailed account of a fascinating topic. The
writing is clear and avoids jargon and theory. The research is
thorough, as is made evident by the notes and the comprehensive
bibliography. His book has academic credibility but can also be
recommended for the general reader.
*Jim Burns, Northern Review of Books*
Meticulously researched, judiciously argued, and written with
enviable panache, November 1918 is an engaging history with much
original insight that should become the standard work on the
subject.
*Professor Anthony McElligott, University of Limerick*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |