J. Martin reviewed Deutschland 1923 by Volker Ullrich
Gripping But Not Substantial
2 stars
Great read if you want to know what happened in 1923 in Germany, enriched with local color and quotes from newspapers, letters, and diaries from the time. However, don’t expect a scholarly work. There’s no attempt at analysis beyond the obvious; the book doesn’t engage with any previous interpretation or viewpoint; and sometimes it’s even sloppy in ways I regularly object to when marking students’ papers. (E.g., «Bereits nach dreizehn Monaten musste ‹Der Neue Tag› sein Erscheinen einstellen.» Why? Financial trouble? Political trouble? We never know.) (And in case you’re puzzled by the typography: yes, the Munich-based publisher uses Swiss-style instead of German-style guillemets. House style, perhaps.) All in all, Deutschland 1923: Das Jahr am Abgrund is a light read that tells a gripping story, but neither adds a lot of perspective nor ever stops to reflect on its own.