The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape

by Brian Ladd

Book Overview

In this compelling work, Brian Ladd examines the ongoing conflicts radiating from the remarkable fusion of architecture, history, and national identity in Berlin. Ladd surveys the urban landscape, excavating its ruins, contemplating its buildings and memorials, and carefully deconstructing the public debates and political controversies emerging from its past.

"Written in a clear and elegant style, The Ghosts of Berlin is not just another...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226467627
• ISBN13: 9780226467627
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A fabulous book

This bok shows how great and brilliant is the glorious Berlin. You can understand everything about this city and about the modern world. An amazing book, no doubt!

I highly recommend it!

This book was required reading for my university geography module "Geographies of the European City". I thought it would be long, dull and confusing. I was very wrong! It is one of the first academic books that i just couldn't put down! Intresing, mind opening and detailed, yet written in a simple and accessible manner. I learnt not only a lot about the history of Germany and Europe and the Second World War but also about how we view cities, how they are formed and their role in the world today.

Forget the guide books! Take this instead!

This book was on the short list of texts my German language/culture study abroad course required. As far as the architectural culture went, this book was all you needed to taste the essence of the capital. It was better than any guide book out there, especially relating the tulmultuous past with what you were seeing with your own eyes as an urban landscape.Berlin is complex, historically and culturally - from its imperialist days to Hitler's capital to the scarred divided city just now seaming together. Germany is the embodiment of ambiguity - which is made abundantly evident by its very structures throughout the wide city. Brian Ladd's photography is unobtrusive and tasteful, illustrating his thoroughly researched work. He compares an old photograph to one taken recently by him to study, at one point, how unchanged some parts of the city have been in the midst of constant upheaval in the last century.It is remarkable how entertaining the book is, as well as its vitality in its examination of Berlin. It was, quite simply, such a pleasure to read. The Ghosts of Berlin takes in the large picture, of a country uniting, political ideologies - past and present, and the significance of massive structures - standing and ruined. It also encompasses details in exquisite ordinariness, like street corners, department stores, and public transportation. All this is told in an appealing style that is accessible (so you don't need any background in Germany or Berlin), but not overly casual (Ladd is informed and comprehensive).

A city comes to terms with its past

This is a brilliant book that looks at a remarkable city after the fall of the Berlin Wall and asks the question: How to come to terms with the monuments of the past? The Brandenburg Gate? Hitler's Bunker, etc. Should they be torn down, the stories they embody erased? Or should they stand as a legacy of German culture, however tainted it may be. A remarkable book about a remarkable city. Do read it.

If you love Berlin, this is a must book to read

Brian Ladd helps the reader to look at Berlin's many monuments and buildings from a critical point of view. He helps one realize that there is more to a city stone and cement. After reading this, you can never again look at any city, Berlin in particular, the same