In Search Of Berlin: The Story of Europe's Most Important City

This is an excellent and informative book and brilliant background reading for my immanent trip to Berlin. Despite all the research I've carried out (I'm a little anally-retarded that way) there were still things I hadn't known. I would have given it 5 but I felt it ended on a bit of a flat note, almost like Mr Kampfner couldn't think of what to say about what Berlin is like today (I could have done a better job just walking round Google Street).

One of the best books on a city that I have read. John Kampfner writes easily and with authority as he takes the reader gently through the long and conflicted history of Berlin. I especially enjoyed the way Kampfer's book brings episodes of past history up to the current day, often by way of commenting on the many public memorials, cemeteries, and museums that dot today's city. The author's material on the Nazi period and Jewish life (and death) is quite good. As is the material on the Berlin Wall and the political and social split between East and West. I've had the benefit of several visits to Berlin over the years. This book rings true and was a joy to read.

Great insights into Berlin history

I still have tiny fragments of the Berlin Wall chipped off during my visit on 9th November 1989 when the wall came down. They are safely contained in a plastic box, as I’m pretty sure they contain blue asbestos that was, I understand, used to strengthen the concrete. To get there required a flight to Hamburg and hiring a BMW 5 series in which we drove through a strange landscape, enduring the fumes from Trabant cars en route. It was an amazing experience. Reading John Kampfner’s excellent book In Search of Berlin brought back memories of that first and subsequent visits. This is not a travel book or a guidebook; It’s an easily readable journey through 800 years of Berlin’s remarkable history. If anyone thinks they know Berlin, they need to read this book to realise there is so much more to this beguiling city. Mr Kampfner engages the reader with personal asides from his experiences of living there and reporting from it. My only criticism is that the pages with maps are hard to read without a magnifying glass. I very much enjoyed this book. Indeed, had I been able I would have read it one sitting. It’s a pity it hadn’t been published before my first trip there all those years ago. I was left with a desire to make another visit, book in hand, to explore in greater depth.

Reads like a novel , great story telling and thorough research. Berlin never fails interest