Vivid, succinct, and highly accessible, Heinrich Winkler's magisterial history of modern Germany offers the history of a nation and its people through two turbulent centuries. It is the story of a country that, while always culturally identified with the West, long resisted the political trajectories of its neighbours. This first volume (of two) begins with the origins and consequences of the medieval myth of the 'Reich', which was to experience a fateful renaissance in the twentieth century, and ends with the collapse of the first German democracy. Winkler offers a brilliant synthesis of complex events and illuminates them with fresh insights. He analyses the decisions that shaped the country's triumphs and catastrophes, interweaving high politics with telling vignettes about the German people and their own self-perception. With a second volume that takes the story up to reunification in 1990, Germany: The Long Road West will be welcomed by scholars, students, and anyone wishing to understand this most complex and contradictory of countries.

"...destined to become a must-have for both scholars and students of German history. Combining skilful and fluent narrative with insightful analysis, his history of modern Germany presents the reader with a vivid and detailed picture of the German nation." - Journal of the Historical Association

"...this book has much to offer." - Róisín Healy, European History Quarterly

"Germany: The Long Road West 1789-1933 is a magnificent examination of a country which, along with Russia, possesses a history that is arguably the most complicated in Europe. This book will be an immense asset to academics, students and, indeed, anyone with a serious interest in German history." - Marcus Papadopoulos, Tribune

"[an] excellent book" - Contemporary Review

"magisterial...Winkler's magnum opus." - TLS