Germania, Simon Winder
Germania, Simon Winder
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Germania
In Wayward Pursuit of the Germans and Their History

Author: Simon Winder

Narrator: James Cameron Stewart

Unabridged: 18 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/01/2018


Synopsis

Sitting on a bench at a communal table in a restaurant in Regensburg, his plate loaded with disturbing amounts of bratwurst and sauerkraut made golden by candlelight shining through a massive glass of beer, Simon Winder was happily swinging his legs when a couple from Rottweil politely but awkwardly asked: "So: why are you here?"

This book is an attempt to answer that question. Why spend time wandering around a country that remains a sort of dead zone for many foreigners, surrounded as it is by a force field of historical, linguistic, climatic, and gastronomic barriers? Winder's book is propelled by a wish to reclaim the brilliant, chaotic, endlessly varied German civilization that the Nazis buried and ruined, and that, since 1945, so many Germans have worked to rebuild.

Germania is a very funny book on serious topics—how we are misled by history, how we twist history, and how sometimes it is best to know no history at all. It is a book full of curiosities: odd food, castles, mad princes, fairy tales, and horse-mating videos. It is about the limits of language, the meaning of culture, and the pleasure of townscape.

About Simon Winder

Simon Winder is the author of three books: the Sunday Times (London) Top Ten Bestseller Germania, the highly praised The Man Who Saved Britain, and Danubia, which was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Steve on April 25, 2010

A disappointing effort, overall. Here is my review for the San Francisco Chronicle: Germania In Wayward Pursuit of the Germans and Their History By Simon Winder (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 454 pages; $25) At first glance one assumes that Simon Winder has in mind with "Germania" something like an updatin......more

Goodreads review by Dan on January 24, 2013

So many reviewers of this book get caught up with the fact that the author claims not to be able to speak German. OF COURSE HE CAN SPEAK GERMAN, albeit not as well as he would like to, he is just being terribly, _terribly_ British about it. This is a very quirky, very personal, utterly British, histo......more

Goodreads review by Liam on May 01, 2025

An absolute joy of a book - funny, informative and very well written. Anyone interested in Germany and Germany history should read this book - actually if you have an interest in history of any kind then I am sure you will enjoy this book. There is so much to this book, in particular its humour and......more

Goodreads review by Rennie on February 22, 2012

I expected a humorous portrayal of modern Germany alongside historical context, but when a sense of humor appeared it was more weird and offensive than anything, like in one instance the author wrote that unattractive people spend a lot of time looking at maps. Maybe a stereotype I've so far never e......more

Goodreads review by David on June 24, 2010

Very interesting, funny, poignant and brilliant book on German history, from the Dark Ages to 1933; Winder is a British "Germano-phile", which is actually kind of rare. He journeys all over the sprawling, central European mass of Germania, a region not fixed onto the boundaries of the modern country......more