Book Reviews : Modern Germany: Its History and Civilization. By KOPPEL S. PINSON. Second Edition. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1966. Pp. xv, 682. $8.95.)
| Published date | 01 December 1966 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296601900439 |
| Author | Bruce B. Frye |
| Date | 01 December 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
763
This
very
sincere
and
worthwhile
study
is
marred,
unfortunately,
by
too
many
pedantic
mannerisms:
&dquo;We
shall
review ...&dquo; ;
&dquo;as
will
be
pointed
out...&dquo;;
&dquo;In
the
next
chapter
we
shall
discuss ...&dquo;;
&dquo;...
let
us
examine ...&dquo;;
&dquo;The
subject
...
will
be
treated
...&dquo; ;
&dquo;we
shall
explore
...&dquo; ;
&dquo;One
must
not ...&dquo; ;
&dquo;One
could
take
...&dquo; ;
&dquo;...
unless
one
considers ....&dquo;
The
thoughtful
reader
is
irritated
by
such
unneces-
sary
and
repetitious
admonitions
while
the
careless
reader
is
beyond
their
help.
But
Payne
is
a
young
scholar
of
considerable
promise
whose
lapses
into
&dquo;pedagese&dquo;
could
readily
have
been
corrected
by
a
sharp
editorial
pencil.
Southern
Illinois
University
WARD
M.
MORTON
Modern
Germany:
Its
History
and
Civilization.
By
KOPPEL
S.
PINSON.
Second
Edition.
(New
York:
The
Macmillan
Company,
1966.
Pp. xv, 682.
$8.95.)
When
Pinson’s
Modern
Germany
first
appeared
in
1954
reviewers
acclaimed
it
as
not
only
the
best
textbook
which
had
appeared
for
the
period
after
1815,
but
the
best
book
on
the
period
in
any
language.
The
second
edition
is
an
improve-
ment
on
the
first,
incorporating
into
the
original
work
of
the
late
Professor
Pinson
an
excellent
chapter
on
postwar
Germany
by
Klaus
Epstein
which
brings
the
nar-
rative
to
the
present.
Other
improvements
are
the
addition
of
two
endpaper
maps
and
a
greatly
enlarged
bibliography.
Several
texts
on
German
history
have
appeared
since
1954,
but
with
the
exception
of
Hajo
Holborn’s
A
History
of
Mod-
ern
Germany,
of
which
two
volumes
up
to
1848
have
appeared
thus
far,
they
are
pedestrian
when
compared
to
Pinson’s
work.
Pinson’s
study
is
a
rich
synthesis,
the
product
of
a
mature
scholar
who
had
spent
his
life
studying
all
of
the
facets
of
German
civilization.
Indeed,
if
the
book
has
a
fault
it is
that
it
is
perhaps
too
rich,
too
detailed,
and
too
scholarly
for
the
average
undergraduate.
It
is
a
book
which
has
greatly
influenced
those
who
have
used
it.
Pinson’s
work
demonstrates
all
of
the
&dquo;varieties
of
history&dquo;
which
historians
hope
to
employ,
and
it
is
particularly
valuable
for
the
meaningful
chapters
on
intellectual
history.
Instead
of
the
usual
listing
of
names
and
titles,
Pinson
makes
intellectual
history
come
alive
and
relates
it
to
the
life
of
the
nation
in
many
ways.
Each
chapter
is
the
product
of
research
in
the
sources,
as
the
chapter
notes
demonstrate.
Through
the
careful
choice
of
quotations
from
contemporaries
Pinson
often
brilliantly
describes
a
personality
or
a
period.
Political
scientists
should
find
such
chapters
as
&dquo;The
Catholic
Tradition
in
Germany&dquo;
and
&dquo;The
Socialist
Tradition
in
Germany&dquo;
useful
contributions
to
an
understanding
of
Germany’s
political
history.
There
are
equally
valuable
chapters
on
Germany’s
economic
history.
Pinson
is
also
capable
of
evoking
the
mood
or
atmosphere
of
a,
period
in
a
few
lines.
In
a
field
where
often
the
books
are
either
bitter,
accusing
attacks
on
Germany’s
history
or
flabby
apologies,
Pinson’s
Modern
Germany
strikes
a
happy
balance
- humane,
liberal,
sensible.
It
is
a
work
which
any
social
scientist
could
read
with
profit.
It
remains
one
of
the
proud
achieve-
ments
of
American
historians,
and
it
is
hailed
as
widely
in
Europe
as
it is
in
America.
Colorado
State
University
BRUCE
B.
FRYE
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