Berlin is a party in a graveyard. It is Europe's youth capital, and
its guilty war conscience. It is a disputed construction site,
built on the ruins of regimes. Today's diversity - refugees,
immigrants, arty expats, East and West - emerges from a history of
violence. Berlin is as cutting-edge and contemporary as it is wary
of its extreme past. Berlin is a comprehensive short history and
portrait of the German capital today. The story of Berlin's
vagaries over nine centuries - from a dry place in a bog to the
control centre of modern Europe - is expertly portrayed by
historian Joseph Pearson. The dynamic present is a palimpsest on
this unsettling past. A long-time flaneur of Berlin's streets,
Pearson explores how the city's history is visible today in
bombsites, museums and industrial club spaces (and a lake hosting a
man-nibbling monster). In this book, we find that elements of the
city that for some can be unnerving - its emptiness, its
provincialism, its ramshackle industrial eclecticism, its sexual
freedoms, its confrontation with a murderous past - are precisely
what give the city its charge.Pearson poses provocative questions
as he reveals the city's many layers and varied neighbourhoods. He
argues, ultimately, that Berlin's centrality in European and
cultural affairs is only just beginning to be felt.
General
Imprint: |
Reaktion Books
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Series: |
CityScopes |
Release date: |
June 2017 |
Authors: |
Joseph Pearson
|
Dimensions: |
200 x 120 x 17mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
280 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-78023-719-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-78023-719-7 |
Barcode: |
9781780237190 |
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