Anyone interested in the German people will enjoy this book.
My mother's family was part of the "Volga Germans"; Catherine the Great, in an effort to improve both agricultural production and the lot of Russian peasants, convinced a significant number of successful German farmers to relocate to Russia in hopes that Russian peasants would learn from them. After her death, the next czar decided these imports should assume the burdens of full Russian citizenship, including service in the Russian Army. This caused many of the Volga Germans to immigrate to the US and settle on the Great Plains rather than returning to their original homeland.
My father and mother met in OK, where both families ended up after the Land Rush, but his family had relocated to Wisconsin so I grew up in Milwaukee, also a German town. I had German in high school, but when I got to Germany in 1962 for a three year Air Force tour, nobody could understand me.
I started taking courses through the U of Maryland, and ended up with 15 hours of German taught by a German professor. By that time I was fluent in the language, and embraced the culture (including several German girlfriends). The only thing that kept me from taking a European discharge and staying was the fact that I already had ten years invested in the military.
The book chronicles the author's love affair with the country and attempts to explain how a country which produced Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart could also produce Hitler and the Nazis. I have restarted this book a couple times and always got sidetracked before I finished, but always enjoyed it.
Yesterday I ran across an really clean 1991 hardcover copy at Half-Price Books, so am happy to share this one with you.
My mother's family was part of the "Volga Germans"; Catherine the Great, in an effort to improve both agricultural production and the lot of Russian peasants, convinced a significant number of successful German farmers to relocate to Russia in hopes that Russian peasants would learn from them. After her death, the next czar decided these imports should assume the burdens of full Russian citizenship, including service in the Russian Army. This caused many of the Volga Germans to immigrate to the US and settle on the Great Plains rather than returning to their original homeland.
My father and mother met in OK, where both families ended up after the Land Rush, but his family had relocated to Wisconsin so I grew up in Milwaukee, also a German town. I had German in high school, but when I got to Germany in 1962 for a three year Air Force tour, nobody could understand me.
I started taking courses through the U of Maryland, and ended up with 15 hours of German taught by a German professor. By that time I was fluent in the language, and embraced the culture (including several German girlfriends). The only thing that kept me from taking a European discharge and staying was the fact that I already had ten years invested in the military.
The book chronicles the author's love affair with the country and attempts to explain how a country which produced Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart could also produce Hitler and the Nazis. I have restarted this book a couple times and always got sidetracked before I finished, but always enjoyed it.
Yesterday I ran across an really clean 1991 hardcover copy at Half-Price Books, so am happy to share this one with you.
