I chose this book from among a dozen others prior to visiting Berlin (and the rest of Germany) this spring. Whereas the Lonely Planet Germany got us around the country, this guide kept us busy in Berlin. It's witty, well written and informative, kind of like the city itself.

Once again Timeout did not disappoint me. I only used this guide while I was in Berlin, and I was able to go and see everything that I wanted to do kein problem. The underground/metro may give you some headaches if you are not familiar with the German system...but I am currently living in Munich, and Berlin's bahn system is much better with only three zones(A, B, C) and the fact that there is an English(No english in Munich) translation means someone knows what they are doing. Some of my personal recommendations in Berlin...Victoria Park in Kreuzberg reminds me of a more peaceful, hardly any tourist Sacre D'Couer in Paris...Reichstag in the evening(go late, but not too late else they will tell you to come back tomorrow...it happened to me), small little red french fry shack on Orangenburger Str...100 to 150 meters on left side(world's greatest fries), and the east side gallery by Ostbahnhof.

First of all Berlin is my new fave city in the world, and I owe it in part to this great book which really made the whole trip very easy... Better than the other couple of books I bought along, and offered great sugestions.

This book about Wannsee is a welcome surprise. It begins in the 1800s, with the financial machinations of those who would ultimately build it, the skullduggery of at least one man who inhabited it (and paid the ultimate price), this appears to be a conglomeration of writings by the author...and cleverly assembled into a single tale of people, their frailties, and the Jewish home that became the ultimate scene of the so-called Wannseee Conference (20 Jan 1942) where the Final Solution was announced by SS-Obergrueppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich to others of the government functionaries, the Old Guard, and senior officials of the Wehrmacht. While others have focused on that event, this book provides and illuminating context (written by a man named Lehrer, "teacher" in German, ironically). Any individual interested in the Holocaust, the development of the Third Reich from the decimation of Germany following the Treaty of Versailles, will find deep earth to uncover in this beguiling and deceptively short volume. Most highly recommended!

Hadassah Magazine Review-January 2002

Wannsee House and the Holocaust
by Steven Lehrer (McFarland, 196 pp. $32.50)

For most of the years after January 20, 1942, the three-story villa at Am Grossen Wannsee 56-58, on the shore of Berlin's popular recreation lake, was a footnote in the accounts of the Holocaust. Finally it merits its own book.

Steven Lehrer, a radiation therapist, has documented the history of the infamous site where the Third Reich officially implemented the Final Solution. His book is a companion piece to his forthcoming Hitler Sites (McFarland), which is a historical guide to 150 places in Germany, Austria and France associated with the life of Adolf Hitler.

Wannsee House traces the villa's background from its construction in 1914 by a prosperous Berlin merchant and its sale in 1921 to a right-wing industrialist to its purchase by Gestapo chief Reinhard Heydrich with plundered Jewish money as a vacation spa for Nazi security police. Ultimately, it was the location for the conference at which genocide was plotted.

"'God will give him blood to drink!' was the curse of a man hanged for witchcraft that fell upon the inhabitants of Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of The Seven Gables," Dr. Lehrer writes in his introduction. "The Wannsee Villa bears a certain eerie resemblance to Hawthorne's fictional creation, its inhabitants cursed by the evil period of German history to which the house stood witness."

The book, organized as a series of tightly written vignettes, emphasizes that the Wannsee Conference was not the administrative genesis of the Nazis' plans to annihilate European Jewry. Rather, it coordinated and consolidated what was already under way. "By the time of the Wannsee Conference...the Einsatz groups, operating behind the army frontlines, had murdered more than half a million people. Thus there was no need of a decision at the conference to commit mass murder. The Wannsee Conference facilitated the killing."

After World War II, the house became a center for political seminars, then a youth hostel. Fifty years later the building was inaugurated as a historical memorial. In its halls are photographs of Nazi persecution; one room is dedicated to Auschwitz.
The German decision to make the Wannsee house a shrine to victims is another part of the society's effort to remember its past. This book ensures that Wannsee will not be forgotten. --Steve Lipman.

by Steve Lipman The New York Jewish Week July 27, 2001. The language brought Dr. Steven Lehrer to Germany nearly 30 years ago. A radiologist, he had studied German in school, had become fluent, and wanted to see the country.

"I just had a fascination with it because of what happened there," says Lehrer. It means the Holocaust.

The Upper West Side resident kept going back because of curiosity. And because of his books.

"Wannsee House and the Holocaust," which describes the background of the villa on a Berlin lake where the Final Solution was plotted by a small group of Nazi leaders in early 1942, was published recently by McFarland & Co., a small firm in North Carolina. "Hitler Sites," a historical guide to some 150 places in Germany, Austria and France associated with Adolf Hitler's life and career, will appear later this year. It's also being published by McFarland.

Lehrer, 56, who works at the VA Hospital in the Bronx and teaches at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, calls both books the first in English on their topics.

His name on the Wannsee book identifies him only as Steven Lehrer - no Dr. "My medical degree didn't exactly relate to this [subject]," he says.

Working first at a typewriter, then later at a computer, Lehrer has written six books since 1979 on such topics as great medical discoveries, cancer treatments, and examining patients by their heart and lung sounds. He also wrote an introduction to a reissued collection of stories by American adventurer-hunter Frank Buck.

"I guess I'm interested in different things," Lehrer, a Los Angeles native, explains.

His interest in the Holocaust, in how a society where Jews apparently were fully integrated could produce the most-systematic genocide in history, sent him back to Germany some 15 times.

How? One answer, the doctor says, is the people. As a Jew - with a German-sounding name - Lehrer says he felt anti-Semitism, in Germans' eyes and in their words, wherever he traveled. "It hasn't changed at all" since World War II, he says.

First Lehrer did the "Hitler Sites" book. He visited the houses and the schools and the homeless shelters and the infamous Munich beer hall and the Berlin bunker where The Fuehrer supposedly died.

"It's difficult for people to understand how he did what he did," Lehrer says. "If you actually go and see these places" - many of them places of poverty - "you see what made him so angry and bitter. You see the level of anti-Semitism that still exists in these places."

The Wannsee book grew out of his research for the sites book. Lehrer toured Wannsee, a government-administered Holocaust memorial since 1992, five times. "Everything there was in German," discouraging foreign visitors. He couldn't find a book in English about the building and its history. So he decided to write one.

"I felt this was a place American Jews should know about," he says.

Based on research from more than a dozen German books and the on-line archives of German newspapers, he relates the history of the villa, the fates of the 15 participants in the Jan. 20, 1942 conference, and the largely unknown story of a Holocaust survivor who lobbied for the site's designation as a national monument.

The book reads like fiction.

"I like to tell a story," Lehrer says. "I've always been a great admirer of Barbara Tuchman," the late Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who related historical events through the eyes of their participants. "I've tried to use her approach."

Lehrer's next project is a study of "Jewish entertainers in the Holocaust." That means more trips back to Germany. "I have a reason," he says.

Lehrer doesn't encourage his readers to visit the places he has visited. "I think reading about it is enough."

Sir Isaiah Berlin was the greatest exponent of Liberal Pluralism
in the 20th Century. "Against The Current" is probably his best collection of essays. The essays on Verdi and George Sorel are worth the price of the book alone. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You will not regret it.

In this, his most accessible work, Berlin deals with a host of subjects. The volume contains one of the truly great critical essays on Machiavelli, a brilliant parallel lives exposition of Marx and Disraeli, the classic essay on the Counter-Enlightenment and an amazing 'Hedgehog and Fox'-like analysis of Verdi. Yet again Berlin shows us his gift of imaginative insight - what Vico called 'entrare' - that allows him apparent access to minds, ideologies and cultures utterly alien to his own. He also shows us his gifts as a musician and rhetoriceur, using all his old tricks of repitition and word association. This is, as is usual in his works, as much a flaw as a blessing,and his 'entrare' often ends on a note achingly reminiscent of his own political pluralism, but for all that it is still a masterly collection.

"Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas" has long been out of print and is hard to find in the used market. I wish some publisher would reprint it--I'm sure it would sell well. It was my introduction to this wonderful, careful, rational thinker and his ideas on pluralism, among many other topics. I'm not smart enough to summarize his thought for public consumption; you must read him for yourself. If you are a warm, loving, human being who is interested in how we got to our present intellectual condition, after reading him you will be a convert. Libraries often have "Against the Current," but you can also find great riches in his other books, some of which Amazon.com will be happy to send to you. Put his name in Keyword Search and check out the numerous titles they carry. (No, I'm not a salesman, just a fan.) I can recommend "Crooked Timber of Humanity" as a good start. For a (still) fresh reading of the life of Karl Marx read Berlin's biography of him. Enrich your life; READ ISAIAH BERLIN!!!

This is a terrific show-biz bio that focuses on Berlin's career and tells enough about his personal life to satisfy those of us who remember how complex he was. There are many details of his projects on Broadway and in Hollywood, his publishing company, his early career as a singing waiter, and his tormented retirement. Anyone who likes the kind of anecdotes Moss Hart recounts in "Act One," anyone who is interested in the process of putting on shows and developing movies, will be fascinated by this. The book overflows with the larger-than-life personalities you expect from show business, and there are choice revelations (to me, at least), like his first encounter with George Gershwin, who as a very young man wanted to be Berlin's musical secretary but was rejected for being too talented (i.e., threatening).

The psychology (or psychosis?) of Berlin's genius is presented in a straightforward, non-babbling way. His complexity comes through in his ambivalence towards colleagues, with examples of generosity (an anecdote about the young Burton Lane), avuncularity (Harold Arlen), and rivalry (Richard Rodgers), all contrasted with the almost comical hostility he showed towards some "civilians," especially the scholarly types ("f***ing longhairs") who wanted to dissect him late in his career. His most famous paradox -- the fact that without being able to read music or play an instrument well or even sing decently, he was able to create works of matchless intricacy and depth -- is discussed thoroughly, although it will forever remain mysterious.

There are two dimensions I would like to have seen more fully explored. First, his relations with his original family are almost non-existent after his childhood. While this must be a reflection of reality, I was left curious about what went on between him and his sisters, nephews, and nieces. It's obvious that a major part of his assimilation was to reject all vestiges of his childhood, but it would have been nice to have more detail about encounters with those inconvenient relations. One of the few stories Bergreen includes -- about a sister dying of cancer -- is so painful that maybe he couldn't bring himself to pile on more.

Another aspect that could have been more developed was Berlin's technique. Although no one will ever be able to explain exactly why he's the greatest American songwriter, I would have liked more analysis about how he was able to achieve his unique combination of simplicity and sophistication. There is a total absence of musical examples, which might have two reasons: that publishers of musical bios tell their authors to leave notation out the same way authors of popular science books are prohibited from using equations, or that Berlin's estate forbids the quoting of even the smallest snippets of his songs. Or maybe the author isn't as much of a "longhair" as he seems to be from the precision and insight of his observations.

But even though I would have enjoyed reading more of the above, the book is totally splendid as is. The best compliment I can think of is that it does justice to one of the great artists of the 20th century.

LAURENCE BERGREEN has done a terrific job in all departments. When you finish the book, you have a good idea of who IRVING BERLIN was, and what a life he had from singing waiter to AMERICAN's first great composer with JEROME KERN. Anyone interested in the story of AMERICAN music should read that book.

I enjoyed Bergreen's book about Irving Berlin as I did his book on Al Capone. To think that all these great songs came from one man simply boggles the mind.

Ruth has witnessed a period of our modern history which is too little known and understood by much of the supposedly educated Western world - and written so well and thoughtfully about her experiences. We share her disappointments, admire her achievements with the German language, freeze with her, are inspired by the stoicism and even good humour of individuals who have suffered so much in war, feel the warmth of her German friends, can imagine the hassle and frustration of crossing into East Berlin and appreciate the fascination Ruth and Charles had with the events, culture, history, politics and customs of Berlin.

This 20 year detour by an interracial American couple in Cold War Berlin is an interesting, compulsive read which also permits valuable insights into personal interactions within the culturally diverse international community.

What a read! Ruth took me to Berlin, placed me in her family, and brought me a rich, honest encounter with a place I knew little about. Thank you Ruth (and Charles) for letting me share your wonderful detour to Berlin.

A compelling account of a 20th-century love story set in Cold War Berlin. Ruth Baja, a girl from an upper class Philippine background, marries Charles Williams, a black American singer, against her family's wishes. They find themselves in Berlin--temporarily they think--soon after the Wall divides the city. They stay and raise a family while Charles pursues a European career. This is a voyage of political, cultural and personal discovery, told with wit, poignance and grace. You'll fall in love with Ruth and Charles, and with Berlin too.

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.

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).

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.

Fine text & phenomenal photographs.

Wonderful photographs and narrative; this book captures the life and spirit of Berlin during its heyday. The final few pages address the emergence of the Nazi influence; other books thus are left to relate the ensuing horror that befell Berlin. One of my favourite Berlin books. Also worth a read are "Before the Deluge" and "Faust's Metropolis", two excellent books which cover Berlin in the 20's and 30's.

This book of Pre-World War II Berlin is eloquently told in a series of photographs the have an undeniable melancholy effect on the reader for days of tranquility and simplicity long gone. If you can get your hands on a copy it is well worth it.

I originally read the book in its original German. It is a fast-paced-thrilling-spy-yarnesque type of a cook book. Numerous good recipes are strewn throughout, and they are nicely tied into the plot and tailored to the circumstances. The plot reads well and is very, very entertaining. Guaranteed to be read in very few sittings.

"The Berlin Connection" was one of the titles for the English translation of "Bis zur bitteren Neige". It also appeared in English with the more literal title, "To the Bitter End," but in no case should it be a book about the unwitting secret agent/gourmet cook Thomas Lieven, whose adventures are told in "Es Muss nicht immer Kaviar sein." The two proper English titles for the book about cooking and spying are "The Monte Cristo Cover-up" and again the more literal "It Can't Always Be Caviar." Has a careless publisher put out a book with the wrong title?

Anyway, I'm prejudiced. I think Simmel's the best writer I've ever read, and I taught myself German to be able to read them all. His newest book, "Liebe ist die letzte Brucke," appeared in August, 1999. I am translating it to English as "Love is the Last Bridge."

The Berlin Connection - a title that does live up to the witty and sometimes even cheek-in-tongue nature of this book - will probably always be a bestseller because the moment you start to read you won't stop until you're done... and soon you'll read it again! Placed in the unsteady times of WWII and spiced with Thomas Lieven's recipes it makes interesting reading! Top Book!

This comes with a CD of Barbra Streisand singing God Bless America - which is great (and I am not a huge Barbra fan). The illustrations are wonderful and do a great job translating the lyrics of this classic song.

Most patriotic children's books get sappy or trite ... but not this one. The words are merely the lyrics of the great song. However, the illustrations that bring those words to life create a wonderful, colorful celebration of our country, without being overly sentimental. They are so well done they stir up feelings nonetheless. When you turn the page to the fireworks over The Statue of Liberty, goosebumps are guaranteed. My kids loved the family trip across the U.S. This is Lynn Munsinger at her best! I highly recommend this book over any other I've ever seen.

This is a wonderful picture book. I am using it for second language learners during summer school. This also appeals to the musician in me. I plan to play the CD of God Bless America while showing the book to the students.

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot is a true story from WWII. The prologue and epilogue include historical and personal notes that will be of interest to the reader. Set in Berlin in 1948 this book will educate children and teach them how simple actions can impact others. It is an enjoyable read. More information on a related book and website can be found within.

This true story of hope, kindness and heroism is a reminder that there are American soldiers who have provided a variety of rescues for people in other countries, a reminder that every child is important, a reminder that one caring person can change the world. There's even a subtle message of the power of prayer. The illustrations are as beautiful, sweet, and historically accurate as the story itself. The heart-warming text gives children a true living American hero to emulate in the Chocolate Pilot and a child to relate to in Mercedes. Grown-ups love this book as much as children do.

"Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot: A True Story of the Berlin "Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot": This is a true Story of the Berlin Airlift and the Candy That Dropped from the Sky by Margot Theis Raven, Gijsbert Van Frankenhuyzen" demonstrates the true meaning of the human sprit and the impact of that sprit upon generation after generation. While I was reading this story I was reminded of a saying which emphasizes how truly important our roles, as adults, are in the lives of children, ...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child." This true story is truly remarkable and a must to share with adults and children.