Berlin: Books: Berlin Recommended Reading

Berlin Recommended Reading

“Berlin. I found it dazzling. The city had a jewel-like sparkle, especially at night, that didn’t exist in Paris. The vast cafés reminded me of ocean liners powered by the rhythms of their orchestras. There was music everywhere.” ~Josephine Baker, 1925

NONFICTION

The Last Jews in Berlin, Leonard Gross, 1988 — Describes the ordeals of several Jewish escapees who lived “underground” in wartime Berlin and managed to survive.

Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945, Marie Vassiltchikov, 1988 — The wartime diary of an émigré Russian princess who was secretary to Adam Von Trott, mastermind of the failed plot to assassinate Hitler.

A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City, Anonymous, 2005 — The sobering diary of a woman who recorded the day-to-day hardships of the mostly female population of Berlin following the end of the war, when the city was under Russian occupation.

FICTION

The Good German, Joseph Kanon, 2002 — A fun-to-read romantic thriller set in post-World War II Berlin.

The Berlin Stories, Christopher Isherwood, 1963 — Two novels that are based on the authors experiences of living in Berlin from 1929 to 1933. The play and the film “Cabaret” are loosely based on the book.

The Innocent, Ian McEwan, 2005 — The British Booker Prize-winning author’s suspenseful thriller was published in 1990 and is set in Cold War Berlin.

The Tin Drum, Günther Grass, 1990 — Considered the voice—and conscience—of post-World War II Germany, Grass published his most acclaimed novel, set in the years leading up to the war on the German-Polish border, in 1959.