Rating: 
Summary: Too brief
Review: A brief history of Germany, with a comprehensive Bibliography for anyone who wishes to further their reading on the subject. This book was written in 1982, with an Afterword written by Gordon Craig in 1991, addressing the unification of East and West Germany. As a novice to the subject of German history, I found this book to be a basic introduction, with many things referred to within the book not given a clear definition, and therefore to get a better understanding one would absolutely need to read other material. I liked that chapters were divided into subjects such as "Religion", "Women", and "Literature and Society", but not knowing more about the different time periods that are referred to (such as the Weimar Republic), I was left feeling that the book was incomplete as a general history.
Rating:
Summary: Too brief
Review: A brief history of Germany, with a comprehensive Bibliography for anyone who wishes to further their reading on the subject. This book was written in 1982, with an Afterword written by Gordon Craig in 1991, addressing the unification of East and West Germany. As a novice to the subject of German history, I found this book to be a basic introduction, with many things referred to within the book not given a clear definition, and therefore to get a better understanding one would absolutely need to read other material. I liked that chapters were divided into subjects such as "Religion", "Women", and "Literature and Society", but not knowing more about the different time periods that are referred to (such as the Weimar Republic), I was left feeling that the book was incomplete as a general history.
Rating:
Summary: getting old
Review: Gordon Craig's scholarly books on German history are still among the best available, and the extent of his knowledge of modern Europe is astounding and usually very reliable. This book, "The Germans," is, as he says in the Preface, based on observations he began making when he first was a student there back in 1935! Full of cultural and historical references that range far beyond some writers' obsession just with the Nazi past, this book conveys to the thoughtful reader quite a bit of the depth and breadth of the recent German experience. But the book is getting old; it was originally written nearly 20 years ago, and contains only a tiny, added section on the unification that took place in 1989-90. Imagine relying on a book about the United States published early in the Reagan era, and written by a foreign observer: no matter how sensitive or thoughtful, it could not touch on many current national trends. In the German case, the dramatic changes underway since 1990 have given the country a verve, dynamism, and self-confidence unimaginable when this book came out. A new set of problems and possibilities have taken Germany well beyond where it was then, so readers should supplement Craig's work with more recent analysis.
Rating: 
Summary: The best introduction to a wonderful, horrible nation.
Review: Greg's book is perhaps the most important book on the history and culture of a people which a thousands of books have been written about. One can not understand Hitler without understanding what happened in the thousand years before him. One can not understand blind obediance to the murder of six million people without understanding the fundamental basics of German society, which are so often ignored.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading!
Review: How, one might ask, could an American academic try to explain the nature of the German people to other Americans? He might do what I do, and talk about the Germans he's met at work and around town, and also the popular and classical culture he sees (not counting the dubbed episodes of Star Trek on TV), but that's just me. If he professionally studied the history and literature, and spent years in Germany during the early years of the twentieth century, he might produce a book like Gordon Craig's The Germans. This is a scholarly book, and might be difficult for someone with no knowledge of German history to follow. The subjects, covering things like religion, economics, gender relations, literature, and so forth, are done topically, and only chronologically within each chapter. This allows Craig to focus in on certain subjects and hold the focus for as long as he needs, but it also makes it difficult to synthesize the topics and integrate them into the passage of time. The goal is to "explain" as well as possible the nature of the German people. Thus, there is no general history of wars or kings. As I mentioned, the chronological aspect is difficult to pin down here. If I had to summarize in a sentence, it would be that Craig attempts to relate how Germans have related to each other over the centuries, and to a lesser extent, how they have related to others. Of course, any time someone sets out to explain a people the effort is almost certain to fail if the author asks "Why did they behave so?" This is true for Germany or any other country. But if the goal is to attempt a coherent discussion of "How did they behave?" then there is better hope for success, and I think Craig has succeeded reasonably well here. One gets, if not a feel for the flow of time, then a feel for ideas. One can say, "So this is how German literature developed." One can say, "So this is why their language is so simple, yet so confounding." As an idea book, Craig has produced a useful work.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not recomend
Review: I wanted to know more about Germany and it's people. I found this book boring and uninteresting. It jumped back and forth and was hard to follow. I finally put the book down half way through.
Rating:
Summary: The most entertaining book on history you will ever read...
Review: Over all the books on Germany I have read, Gordon A. Craig has written the most fascinating book comprehendable. It exceeds far beyond the crude and stereotypical portraits that are displayed in many other books, but instead looks deeper into the study of european history and culture. Craig's introductions are insightful and entertaining. The book is composed of a collection of long essay's which prove Craig's neutral outlook on a country that is foreign to him. This book is the best way to better understand the German phenomenon explained by the greatest diplomatic historian of Germany, Gordon A. Craig.
Rating: 
Summary: Good and unusually deep cultural insight to Germany
Review: The book is a scholarly insight into many of the interesting aspects of Germany. It explains many social and cultural trends I would not otherwise understand. It is written as a collection of long essays, which makes it interesting to read, but not really suitable as a quick reference on Germany.
The book is the accumulation of Craig's rare and scholarly insight into Germans and their behavior.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading!
Review: This book is an excellent overview of the history of Germany before the fall of the wall. True it needs to be updated and it isn't so easy to get through, but it is interesting and it gives you a better understanding of why Germans today act and work as they do. I had been living in Germany for 2 years when I read this book, and learned a multitude of things that helped me identify with the society I was living in. I strongly recommend this book if you are planning to move to Germany or spend a large amount of time there.
Rating:
Summary: Is Bonn Weimar?
Review: Written in 1982, before the Berlin Wall fell or the Cold War ended, this question is the essential one of the book. It often sits in the background, undisturbed, but it is always present. What Craig means by this is, will West Germany turn out to be a failed experiment in democracy, as the Weimar Republic did? Although we can assume fairly safely that it will not (the conclusion Craig came to as well), this is a marvelous and fascinating book. Craig is a diplomatic historian by profession, and in any study of European politics, the underpinnings and history of Germany have to play an important role. The book is organized by topic, beginning with a three-chapter brief history. The second part has chapters on religion, money, relations with Jews, sexual relations, educational relations, literature, the military, and the unique situation of Berlin, among others. It even has an appendix on "The Awful German Language". The chapter on Berlin in particular was fascinating, although if that is your interest, I would recommend Faust's Metropolis: A History of Berlin by Alexandra Richie. This is an excellent book. I originally picked it up because of my deep respect for the author (see my review of Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Problems of Our Time) and my fascination with all things foreign. I didn't put it down for any length of time until I finished. Perhaps the best way to understand the German phenomenon short of living in Germany.
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