5 comments about The Vanished Kingdom: Travels Through The History Of Prussia.

1. That was what one coworker told me on the first day of my new job. Yea, awkward. (my ancestors left in the 1880s) Anyway, there is a lot more history to Prussia than Nazism and these days books about Prussia don't exactly pop out of the book shelves; those that do typically refer to places remote in time and place. However, the author has done a tremendous job of joining the past and how they touch and concern lands and locations today. Well researched and organized, it is a great introduction into a history your teacher might have forgotten to cover.



2. 'The Vanished Kingdom' by James Charles Roy is a fascinating travelogue, combined with the history of this enigmatic land known as Prussia. This land that is so integral to the German identity, is now split between Poland and Russia. Seen by Germany's enemies as a symbol of German expansionism, any talk of reunification is usually met with a less than warm reception. Nevertheless, Prussia remains in the hearts and minds of Germans, and many still hope to reclaim it someday. Roy travels this historically rich land, talking to Poles, Russians, and German tourists engaging in some very interesting conversations along the way. Along with this travelogue, he fluently blends the turbulent history of Prussia, from the Teutonic Knights to Bismarck, and from Frederick the Great to Von Hindenburg. My only criticism is that the author tends to ramble on in certain places, exerting too much time on subjects of limited relevance to Prussia. For example, the several pages he spends discussing Napoleon, I could have done without. Nevertheless, I found 'The Vanished Kingdom' to be enjoyable as well as informative. I would consider it an extremely valuable addition to any student of European history in general and essential for students of German history in particular.



3. "The Vanished Kingdom" By James Charles Roy. Subtitled: "Travels Through The History Of Prussia". Westview Press, 1999.
   
   I first was acquainted with James Charles Roy when I read some of his books on Ireland; see, for example: "The Fields Of Athenry: A Journey through Ireland, 2001". More than 50 years ago, I studied the German language, and the "culture" sections exposed me to those forever gone places: Prussia, East Prussia, Pomerania, and Silesia. Also, that small city-state whose postage stamps I collected: Memel. So, I was quite happy to see Roy's book, "The Vanished Kingdom".
   
   James Charles Roy has written an excellent and eloquent book tracing the history of the lands way east, well beyond the Oder and the Elbe rivers. The author goes back to the early Crusades to trace the beginnings of what later became Prussia, and develops the story into more modern times, with Napoleon, and then the Franco Prussian War, Bismark and the Kaiser (William II) and, of course, the two world wars. Interspersed with all this history, Mr. Roy makes personal observations of the present conditions in the lands the book discusses. He spends substantial time on Koenigsberg, the present day Kaliningrad, which, by the way, still employs Russian postage stamps and is nominally Russian. The author is impressed with Koenigsberg's philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Sorry, Mr. Roy, since I went to a Catholic college, Kant was a footnote to St. Thomas Aquinas.
   
   My fellow Amazon reviewers appear to be of two minds on this book. Those with German-sounding names want to emphasize the recovery of the lost lands to the East. The others want to emphasize the poor opinion the author presents for the Poles he met on his journey. I would remind my Polish co-religionists that James Charles Roy had travelled extensively throughout Ireland where he was undoubtedly met with Irish hospitality: Cead Milte Failte....literally, A Hundred Thousand Welcomes. His journal of this journey shows that the Poles he encountered were not that hospitable; they therefore became fair game for this reporting. I know that the author believes that they were mistakenly identified him as German, and this raised some animosity. I can understand that, but the benefit of the doubt should have been given. Since I have blue eyes, a fair skin, and once had blond hair, I encountered the same animosity at some oil refineries in Europe, especially since my Dutch had a German accent. When I replied that I was of Irish descent, everyone was again all smiles. By the way, I wonder how many of them could pronounce "Athenry" correctly.
   
   I suggest that this is a fair and eloquent book that deserves five stars.



4. I quite enjoyed this book; Roy has got a very fine ability to make history come alive, and combines it with a sort of "travel journal" from the contemporary Prussia of the early 90's. You can really tell that time has passed since he wrote his account though, and not in a good way. The book serves well as a picture of Prussia and its neighbouring lands just after the Berlin-wall fell, but it's hardly updated for the third millennium. I enjoyed the fact that Roy uses the old and valid idea of race and folk souls in his writing, not many authors dare to do this. I really loved the book when it chronicled early Prussian history, before the more controversial periods, but I started to get a bad taste in my mouth as we were nearing the post-ww1 period.
   
   And suddenly it comes out in full bloom "Anyone that questions the Auschwitz should be whipped" and other emotional tirades in an otherwise wonderful book. He is of course entitled to his opinion, but were it any other subject he would be ostracized for using such language, but for some reason that completely eludes me, the official history of the Jewish troubles during ww2 is holy and beyond research and questioning. What if he had said, "Anyone that dares pry into the history of the conquest of the American continent deserves to be whipped?"
   
   As an end-note I'd like to add that he does give a rather good and objective picture of Prussia and its inhabitants, but when he got to the Holy Cow of the West, he fails miserably. So in other words a conclusion is hard to reach, I can only embrace the first two chapters of the book, the rest should be read with the help of Dr. Kevin Macdonald's book "Separation and its Discontents", it will help you understand the Polish and German attitude better, to say the least.



5. Loved it! I took this book with me as I toured Berlin and Western Poland, and I gained more of a sense of place by reading it along the way. This book contains the usual assortment of names, dates, etc.--info you could find in any college textbook. Roy makes all sorts of interesting connections using obscure stories and quotes, personal interviews of those who lived through some of these times, and his own observations touring the area after the fall of the wall. He additionally references other historians, particularly on the topic of the third reich, and adds new ideas on the subject.

No comments about Wallpaper City Guide: Hamburg (Wallpaper City Guides) (Wallpaper City Guides).

4 comments about The Rough Guide to Germany 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. I've lived, studied, and travelled a lot in Germany, and I've used three guidebooks: Let's Go (2003 edition), Lonely Planet (the two most recent editions), and this edition of the Rough Guide. The Rough Guide is the best of them hands down. For starters, it contains more text than the others: though I don't have the Let's Go on hand for comparison, the Rough Guide is almost 300 pages longer than the most recent Lonely Planet Germany, which comes in at about 800 pages. (Because of the thinner paper, however, it is almost exactly the same size as the LP.) The print is also denser and finer, so that the Rough Guide contains probably twice as much actual text as the LP. Legibility suffers a little, but it's a fair trade-off.
   
   More words, of course, isn't necessarily better. Where the The Rough Guide beats the others is in detail and quality of information. For example, where the other guides tell you that the Frauenkirche in Dresden was the most important Protestant church in northern Germany, was destroyed in the firebombing of March 1945, and is now being rebuilt, the Rough Guide tells you also that they are doing the most painstakingly accurate restoration ever - where possible each piece has been dug up from the pile of rubble that was left as a "memorial" after the war and put back where it originally was, and only 10% of the total masory is new. That information adds a lot to your appreciation of the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche. That's just one example. Consistenly, the Rough Guide is more detailed and more authoritative on art, architecture, music, wine, you name it. The LP is by no means bad (although the Let's Go, at least the 2003 edition, is a pretty mediocre effort), but I see no reason to carry any other guide when the Rough Guide is so clearly superior.
   
   UPDATE: I wanted to add to my original review and also address some points made by another reviewer:
   
   - The reviewer says the RG is a well written but a bit snobbish. You could call it that; I say that the RG is not afraid to come right out and say that a sight, restaurant, or entire town is a total tourist trap, or that a place just isn't worthwhile. That's their opinion, of course, but I've found that their opinions are often very well founded. Compare to the LP, which tries to be more balanced and is less opinionated. Given that most travelers have limited time and money, I think they are well-served by the RG's more opinionated approach.
   
   - The Holocaust memorial in Berlin (which is an artistic failure, in my opinion) was unveiled in the spring of 2005, a year after the RG was published and probably nearly two years after it was researched. RG can't be faulted for failing to include this sight. More generally, although there's much overlap between the two guides in what sights are included, RG includes some worthwhile ones which LP overlooks (the Deutsche Bahn Museum in Nuremberg being one good example).
   
   - One thing which travelers often prefer LP for is the inclusion of travel details such as EXACTLY where and when trains depart from, how often they run, how much they cost, or the EXACT prices of hotel accomodation. RG is not as specific and gives just general information (e.g. Berlin to Hamburg, x hours, x times daily) and approximate hotel prices (on a scale of 1 to 9, with ranges given for each). LP's details can be useful, but as often as not I've found that they were outdated or plain wrong. Train/bus services and prices change all the time, and it's very risky to rely on a guidebook which was, say, published a year or two ago and researched another year before that. In any case it's very easy to get all the details from the Deutsche Bahn's excellent website or at the station, so the space in the guidebook should really be reserved for something more useful. As an example, the LP tells you that the ICE train between Nuremberg and Dresden pulls into Zwickau into the center of town, away from the main station. As far as I've been able to tell this was never the case, and in any case since the flood of 2002 the line has not been operated with ICE trains. LP should have gotten this right for the 2004 edition, but it didn't. Better not to include such details at all.



2. Good: Excellent writing, great pictures, and would recommend it for anyone who wants to know a little bit more about German culture and history. Alo liked the fact that it was in color.
   
   Not Wonderful: A bit on the snobish side, not very user friendly, no immediate translations of german terms into english, the hotels are not broken up into categories, and one must do a lot of going back and forth between sections to find out particular german words and other codes. Moreover, it is geared for travelers from english speaking countries (Australia, NZ, Canada, US, UK and Ireland). Actually ommited some sights in Berlin like the new holocaust victims memorial.
   
   Recommendations: if you want to learn more, buy this book. If you want to travel, buy Lonely planet, since it is much easier to use, has more information on sights, facilities, embassies and consulates from other non english speaking countries plus emergency medical services. Both books are good, though.
   
   AW



3. I first picked up the "Rough Guide to West Germany" in 1990, and have bought every update since. The key to remember is that the guide is written for the average tourist, not for someone that lives in Essen. Having said that, I have lived in Europe for 8 years, and find the guide indispensable. The beginning chapters provide you with all the essential information you need to plan the trip, including tourist office addresses, best prices for airlines, reminds you to purchase Eurail passes while still at home, etc. The guide itself is written in a slightly irreverent way, giving a wide berth to commercial tourist attractions in favor of historically significant areas. It lists accommodation (sp?) for all price classes, and even directs you to a good meal in individual cities. The guide stands as a good read, even if you aren't traveling. It gives you everything as advertised, and then some.



4. If I can fade into hyperbole for a moment, attempting to capture Germany, a diverse world super-power with more history than the Roman Empire, in about 1,100 pages is perverse.
   
   Germany is a country of 90 million crammed into a space the size of Montana. It's had so many names (the Holy Roman Empire, Weimar Republic, Third Reich, Prussia, etc...) that we have to wonder where the word "Germany" comes from. A comprehensive history of the country would fill a hundred volumes. Its economic, cultural, religious, and imperial impact on the world is tremendous. A list of "famous Germans" would look like a Who's Who of world history. It contains so many colorful towns, villages, cities, lakes, rivers, mountains and landscapes that a curious and dedicated tourist could spend two years attempting to see it all. There is no country on earth that even comes close. None. Nada.
   
   How can a travel guide take all this and present it to a tourist in an organized way? Rough Guide has the answer. This is the book you need to keep yourself sane while trying to navigate and understand this amazing place. Since there's so much to see, the book is necessarily summary, and the brief historical and cultural "context" chapters are essential. It's done in typical Rough Guide format, namely, practical information up front, the bulk of the guide - the catalog of places, arranged by state - in the middle, and the historical, cultural and artistic contexts in the back. Photographs are few: Rough Guides are not known for their glossy photography, but for their insightful writing. This one won't disappoint you.
   
   The author has done a nice job attempting to condense it all down for you. All the places you know (and many you don't) are here, East and West. So what's special about all this? The author has applied a slightly irreverent style to the text that will help you organize and (especially) prioritize your trip. For example, the author goes on about how so many foreign tourists (Americans in particular) head straight for Heidelberg and Neuschwanstein, but never consider Berlin! Big mistake. Visiting Germany without seeing Berlin is like going to France and not seeing Paris. Berlin is an infinitely fascinating city. Sophisticated, beautiful, and marvelously dynamic. Don't expect twisting medieval streets in Berlin, but keep your eyes wide open and appreciate what this city has become in the last 60 years.
   
   This is a great book, but I'm rating is slightly down for being a bit out of date. Germany is a rapidly changing place, and a book published in 2004 (like this one) is getting a bit long in the tooth. You run the risk that the listings, particularly in Berlin, will be inaccurate. I traveled to Germany with an older edition of this book and found it to be indispensable, but know that finely detailed practical information is not the Rough Guide's strength. This book is intended to point you in the right direction, but you need to be proactive.
   
   Also, since there is so much to cover, there are a few conspicuous omissions that can leave one slightly irritated. Schloss Bellevue, the gorgeous Baroque palace in Berlin's Tiergarten that is now the residence of the German President, is nowhere to be found, for example. Neither is Berlin's Holocaust Memorial. In general, you may get the feeling from the text that the author prefers Munich to Berlin.

1 comments about Dresden (Bradt Mini Guide).

1. Very portable and going into 2008 very accurate, considering Dresden is in considerable flux from extensive rebuilding, with varying availabilities of their collections and exhibits. The nearby attractions of Meissen and Moritzburg are presented very well too. The author's greatest strengths are his thoroughness in necessary information and his eye for architecture; his weakest is his lack of interest in shopping (except for books and music).

No comments about Frommer's Germany's Best-Loved Driving Tours (Best Loved Driving Tours).

5 comments about Berlin: Portrait of a City.

1. I left Berlin, early in 1937, aged five and a half, not to return until 1983, as a visitor, but I have childhood memories of the city, some of which go back to before I was three. Reinforcing those memories were tales I heard from my parents and the occasional, non-war-related movie. To see pictures of the streets and the faces, the clothing and the shop displays going back to before the First World War has been a source of continuing fascination for me. As is only proper in a book of this sort, the horrors that beset Berlin under Hitler and during the Second World War are also given their proper place in this book, a reminder that even one of the world's most sophisticated cities can be all but destroyed in degeneration and nevertheless, with appropriate assistance, as, for instance, the air lift, be resurected and restored. The photos were excellent, and the commentary, in English, German and French, insightful and instructive. Priced in the mid-thirties, the book sold at a substantially lower price than it did at New York's Museum of Modern Art.



2. I purchased this as a gift for my little (20 yo) brother's birthday. He was born in Berlin. First of all this book is HUGE! I love that the explanations of the pictures are written not only in English, but in German. What a fantastic masterpiece.



3. What a book! My mother as well as her sisters were born in Berlin during and after World War II, so I grew up hearing family stories of this amazing city. This book provided a tremendous visual aid to all these stories. Looking at the images I could picture my grandmother as a young woman, and my aunts and my mother in the postwar years.
   If you have any connection to this amazing city, this book will bring tears to your eyes, for all the hardship and challenges it has faced, and with what fantastic grace it reemerged like phoenix from the ashes.



4. This is a beautiful book! The photos are not only outstanding but they have zero pixillation. You can discern details such as the company name on the back of a horse drawn cart in a crowd. The turn of the century through the 1930's I thought were the best. You can stare at one and with out much effort find yourself slipping away into the photo.
   
   The National Socialist period is not covered in depth nor do I think it needs to be. There are far an away plenty of books for that on the market. This is a book that can not be digested in one sitting. Take your time and look at each photo. The small details are fascinating.
   
   My only problem with the book is the blue page stock that some of the entries is written on. It made it difficult to read the text. That is a minor quibble, especially in a book like this. If you buy a used copy make sure you check the price of shipping as this book weighs as much as a small childs school backpack.



5. A great book and great pictures. Berlin has deeply changed in the last 150 years and all this has been documented precisely by great photographers: this the easiest way to show how. Texts are exhaustive too into describing "typical" life of a city.
   Maybe Berlin has changed more in the last two decades then ever before: the last chapter of this book could be more fascinating and explorative, including the fact that there are a lot of pictures about it but it'd had took another book, perhaps. Maybe Berlin has changed again yet and is changing again now... so I'm waiting for a second edition.

1 comments about Michelin Germany, Benelux, Austria, Czech Republic (Michelin Map).

1. I haven't taken it to Germany yet. We go in June but it looks like it has a lot of roads and directions and detailed info. 100% better than Rick Steves map I also ordered.

3 comments about Wallpaper City Guide: Berlin (Wallpaper City Guide).

1. The books in this series are not travel guides and are virtually useless as such. They're more a collection of advertising - photos and promotional blurbs for a few (5 or 6 in each category) hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. No specific information on anything. So if you want a few (small) photos of sleek modern places in a city, that's about all these guides have to offer. There's nothing practical for the tourist in them.



2. I like the Wallpaper magazine a lot and that was why I bought the guide. But I was disapointed by this guide though. It is absolutely useless. The reviews are really superficial. We get the feeling that it was written by a trendy journalist who doesn't really know the city. If you want a real travel guide that provide real information and reviews, don't buy it.



3. This isn't worth the $8.95 or whatever it costs. For the ENTIRE CITY OF BERLIN, this guide lists 5 landmarks. That's it! The only person who I can imagine might possibly like this pamphlet is someone who had only 1 hour to spend in Berlin and could only pick 1 single thing to do... This book is a waste; half of its pages are blank "notes" pages for you to write on...?! There is no more than 4 sentences about any single landmark, store, hotel, etc... I can't imagine who they thought was going to use this book.

2 comments about Let's Go Germany 13th Edition (Let's Go Germany).

1. I just got back from a summer trip to Germany and Let's Go was my constant companion. My Let's Go guide survived violent almost-deadly storms on Lake Constance, brave climbs straight up the cliffs of the Rhineland, and not just one glass of fabulous German wine spilled on its pages. The Southwest Germany section is especially intriguing and rich in wilderness adventures (but watch out for those nettles!). A definite "thumbpick" for this book! :-P



2. I've used Let's Go books in the past and have always loved them. This one is no exception, but it's also the first one I've purchased for a European trip. If you are a student, or on a budget, it's perfect. The weakness - it ONLY reviews budget and hostel lodging options. Also, it assumes you are only hiking or taking trains. However, we're planning on spending part of our time driving and exploring some of the smaller out of the way towns and staying some nights in non-budget locations, so I'm also ordering some other guide books to complement this one.

5 comments about Michelin Germany (Michelin Map).

1. The tour book is full of information, color illustrations, maps, information that many tour books are without. The book has flaps that can be used as markers. The information is excellant in comparison to frommer, fodor, and lost planet. They include history of the country, even detailed information on the smaller towns, places to stay, activities and even shopping for the female readers. I feel this is the best guide for germany.



2. BE AWARE that the 3rd edition, the most recent edition of the Micehelin "Green Guide for Germany," was published in 2000 with most of the editing probably having been finished in 1999. All of their prices are in DM, not Euros....museums, transportation, everything.

   This dramatically decreases the every day value of this guide. Plus the language is so stilted.




3. This book has a brief summary of German history and then lists German cities and sights alphabetically so they are easy to look up. It describes and rates interesting things to see throughout Germany, as well as giving historical information for various cities. It includes a big map with ratings on it and has city maps and color pictures throughout the book. It is extremely helpful for planning a trip to Germany. If you want to go around and see the best sights in Germany, this book clearly highlights what you should prioritize. If, on the other hand, you want to savour a particular region, this book also provides a lot of information on what there is to see and do in each region, including smaller cities. It even includes the prices for museums and other attractions. It does give brief recommendations for places to eat and sleep. My only complaint is that it doesn't list youth hostels among these, but they're easy to find on the internet.



4. Anyone traveling, especially by car, should not be without this handy reference book to the towns you will be visiting. It gives a brief description as well as points of interest.



5. Exceedingly helpful. If you like history and culture do not go to a country without this book. It's like having your own tour guide. History, maps, suggested routes, it's all there. Get a fodors or other guidebook if you want family and fun destinations as well. This is more history and museums.