Germania: A Personal History of Germans Ancient and Modern

by Simon Winder, Peter Noble (Narrator)

The Sunday Times Bestseller and insipration behind David Mitchell's Unruly.

'Entertaining and informative . . . Delightful' – Independent

There are many reasons to be fascinated by forests, architecture and fairy tales, not to mention its history and inhabitants’ penchant for very peculiar food. Our distant and often maligned cousin, this is a place in which innumerable strange characters have held power, in which a chaotic jigsaw of borders have moved about seemingly at random, and which at the dark heart of the 20th century fell into the hands of truly terrible forces. And now Simon Winder is here to tell us everything else there is to know about this mesmerizing, tortured and endlessly fascinating country.

Germania is also a personal guide to the Germany that Simon Winder loves. In this startlingly vibrant account, Winder describes Germany’s past afresh, starting with the shaggy world of the ancient forests, all the way up to the present day – and in doing so, he sees and begins to understand a country much like our Protestant, aggressive and committed to betterment.

Joining Danubia and Lotharingia in Winder’s endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, Germania is a brilliant, vivid and enthusiastic insight to the hidden wonders of Germany

Audible Audio

Published November 5, 2024

About the author

SIMON WINDER has spent far too much time in Germany, denying himself a lot of sunshine and fresh fruit just to write this book. He is the author of the highly praised The Man Who Saved Britain (FSG, 2006) and works in publishing in London.

Reviews

[Joe Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good travel/ personal account of Germany. A lot of reviews hound the author for being unable to confidently speak German and for its occlusion of the bulk of 20th century history. This is not a book on the history of Germany, nor is it a book on the culture of Germany. Read the title again - ‘A Personal History’. He is writing in an opinionated manner because he is trying to convey his experience with a country. It is absolutely British, which may be why so many non-British reviews fail to understand the scope of the book, and is clear that is primarily for the British audience.

[Nabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m not smart enough to truly grasp everything in this book but i really enjoyed reading it and i feel smarter and more cultured after reading it

[Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed it.