Gab es ihn oder gab es ihn nicht, den umstrittenen "deutschen Sonderweg"? Das ist die Leitfrage, die Heinrich August Winkler in seiner zweibändigen "Deutschen Geschichte" stellt. Entschieden im Urteil und anschaulich in der Darstellungsweise, zeichnet er den langen Weg Deutschlands zum Nationalstaat und zur Demokratie nach. Ein Geschichtsbuch für alle, die wissen wollen, wie Deutschland wurde, was es heute ist.
Heinrich August Winkler is a German historian. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tübingen. In 1970 he became professor at the Free University of Berlin.
Review pending but there is a lot to write about and it demands a detailed examination. Briefly the main points: Well researched, quite bureaucratic though readable prose. Seems to be a bit indebted to Sonderweg historians in its focus on nationalism, antisemitism and imperial ambitions. Political and legal history with little to no economic or social history at most places, hence limiting its explanatory power. Most strong in the early Weimar years, but sometimes causing vertigo when years are skipped in two sentences, just to introduce a completely changed political landscape and 10 new names at the same instance. The sense of contingency history has gets a bit loss due to his framework of a 'journey towards the west', events are interpreted as to how they fall into where Germany ought to end up, rather to where they have been situated in. Still a great reference work and particularly useful when it comes to Weimar history. Really liked his brief overview of prenapoleonic German history as well. Kaiserreich political analysis had its moments but seemed comparably weak and insufficiently fleshed out, as well as almost completely without any situating in global or cultural, economical or societal context.
In one volume the jubilee Edition has Milestones in history in softcover Heinrich August Winkler came from Kaliningrad teaching history at the free University in Berlin, Emeritus he often is a guest in talkshows the conservative polemic Berlin does not have more on the political history of Germany. His west was next stop of the nighttrain Ostbahnhof. Central Train Station after the ordnance was cleared,the book is in store at Nonnenhaus, next to the Pizzeria. Material history is there is only one Publisher and one printing house in Munich and Ulm, files taken from emeriti in Berlin too.
Winkler erläutert die historischen Ereignisse mit den nötigen Prioritäten und der wichtigen Präzisierung. Dabei schafft der Autor es immer wieder Interesse und Spaß daran zu wecken kleine Wendungen der Geschichte genauer zu erkunden. Das Gefühl des Überblicks über das Gesamtgeschehen geht jedoch nie verloren. Geschichte ist spannend.