Good and bad

The book depicts the history of this house near Berlin which saw inhabitants from the mid 1800s whose lives together make up a history lesson about Germany. German society and politics under the Kaiser, before and after WW1 and WW2 are illustrated through the series of owners and inhabitants of the house, including the author's ancestors.
Especially the early parts of the book were interesting, although much of the personal details of the inhabitants seemed unnecessary and the descriptive details were too concise to keep my attention all of the times.
The stories about the house after WW2 began to be more interesting again, with a variety of information about life in Eastern Germany that were impressive. Again, I felt uncomfortable knowing some of the more personal details of the inhanitants, thinking that I would not have that kind of information out there about me and my family.
At that point the book lost me again, as I wondered how ethical is was to document such information for the purpose of the book. It dawned on me that this was going to be a literary museum ratehr than an edited story.
The main point about the house is that many parties lay claim to it, due to changes of laws and misappropriations at various stages in history.
The house has become somewhat of a symbol of the history of Germany. Like I would in a museum, I wanted to skip the parts that weren't of interest to me and that contained too many details.
The ending made up for it with a rather moving last chapter and epilogue. Definitely recommended for people interested in European history and probably better read, as it is easier to skip parts and to benefit from the illustrations.

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Fascinating

It's not very often to find a book about the troubled times of Germany before,during and after the second world war This was not a rollicking yarn just a steady interesting sometimes upsetting tale Well done I thoroughly enjoyed

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Thoroughly enjoyable

I really loved this book. Touches on all the major themes of German society in the 20th century. Highly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

Interesting

A fantastic and heart breaking look at the second world war,through the events and inhabitants of a house originally owned by a Jewish family.

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fascinating

Harding brings the story to life. The narrator's German is good and so doesn't distract. Shame about the abrupt end, production fault.

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Fantastic!

A fantastic book and very well read.

The use of the house to tell its residents ' and Germany' s history is inspired.

The book reminds me a little of Len Deighton's "Winter" as a chronicle of German history through the experiences of families.

Most recommended.

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German history in one house

A history of Germany seen through the lives of families who lived in one house during the twentieth century.

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An astonishing piece of work

This book was suggested to me by another author & I can see why. It is an astonishing piece of work, more than 100 years of German history told through the “eyes” of a small wooden house and the families that called it home.

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1 person found this helpful

Not so much a story, more an education.

So many parallels with my own family history. I have also memories of visiting family friends in the DDR and the hypocrisy of the Intershops that only took hard currency and the locals could only look longingly at the merchandise.
A great book that I will recommend to all my friends and family.

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5 families, one house, a fantastic journey

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it took me on Berlin’s historical journey through two world wars, the cold war and beyond. It is warmly written, with all of the characters brought very much to life as is the house itself. I live in Berlin and my next free weekend will be spent finding the house by the lake and all of the other places in the surrounding area. For those of you who can’t make that trip, there are lovely images and a great short movie showing the house under Alexanderhaus.org

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8 people found this helpful