- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; 1 edition (20 Dec 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195181832
- ISBN-13: 978-0195181838
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.3 x 3.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 499,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Joschka Fischer and the Making of the Berlin Republic
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Review
[An] enjoyable book. (European History Quarterly )
Product Description
Over the course of his long and controversial career, Joschka Fischer evolved from an archetypal 1960s radical--a firebrand street activist--into a shrewd political insider, operating at the heights of German politics. In the 1980s he was one of the first elected Greens and went on to become Germany's foreign minister from 1998 to 2005. His famous challenge to Donald Rumsfeld's case for invading Iraq--"Excuse me, I am not convinced"--won him worldwide recognition, and the Bush administration's contempt. Here is both a lively biography of Joschka Fischer and a gripping history 'from below'of postwar Germany. Paul Hockenos begins in the ruins of postwar Germany and guides us through the flashpoints of the late sixties and seventies, from the student protests and the terrorism of the Baader-Meinhof group to the evolution of Europe's premier Green party, and brings us up to the present in the united Germany. He shows how the grassroots movements that became the German Greens challenged and changed the republic's status quo, making postwar Germany more democratic, liberal and worldly along the way. Despite the ideological twists and turns of Fischer and his peers, the lessons of the Holocaust and the Nazi terror remained their constant coordinates. Hockenos traces that political journey, providing readers with unique insight into the impact that these movements and the Greens have had on Germany. Informed by hundreds of interviews with key figures and fellow travelers, Joschka Fischer and the Making of the Berlin Republic presents readers with one of the most intriguing personalities on the European scene, and paints a rich picture of the rebellious generation of 1968 that became the political elite of modern Germany.
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4 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Disappointing
19 Jun 2009
Format:Hardcover
This attempt to illuminate the roots and subsequent influence of the '68ers in West Germany through a biography of Fischer is crippled by its reliance on the familiar and creaky mechanics of popular biography on the one hand (e.g., ascribing character traits by examining wedding photos) and the frequent use of trite phrases on the other ("the times they are a-changing" and so on). This distracts and detracts from Hockenos' analysis, which is usually fair and informative, but rarely incisive. I expected something keener and less journalistic from OUP. Disappointing.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Excellent contribution to German scholarship!
16 Mar 2008
Format:Hardcover
This book is an invaluable resource in the study of postwar German history. Hockenos masterfully chronicles postwar German history and uses Fischer as a vehicle to show how the left opposed American-style consumerism and militarism to create a vibrant new German democracy more in tune with their experiences and values. Eminently readable, this work should be read by both the serious scholar and the casual reader.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A good read
27 Aug 2009
Format:Hardcover
This was a engrossing book--I thought Hockenos did a great job of interweaving Fischer's life with a history of the German left and showing just how much German democracy, which in my mind is much more diverse and effective than the American system, owes to the left. A strong point is the explanations of how members of the left formed certain views and what factors contributed to their radicalization. I had, for example, read a number of articles about the Notstandgesetze (emergency power laws) debated in the 1960s, but I hadn't fully understood what made these laws so threatening to student activists and left-wing thinkers. Hockenos also explores Fischer's alleged opportunism in an even-handed way. This is a book I wholeheartedly recommend.
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