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Product Description
Review
`Fulbrook's lucid analysis provides an admirable introduction to the history of the GDR and certainly the best general account currently available in English ... this is in many respects the ideal undergraduate text.' Mark Roseman, Keele University
Book Description
Founded on the ruins of Hitler's defeated Third Reich, and lacking any intrinsic legitimacy, the German Democratic Republic nevertheless became the most stable and successful state in the Soviet bloc. Yet in the 'gentle revolution' of 1989 it collapsed with startling speed. How can this extraordinary story of political stability followed by sudden implosion be explained? With the opening of the East German archives, it is at last possible to look inside the apparently impregnable dictatorship. Mary Fulbrook provides a compelling interpretation of structures of power and patterns of popular opinion within the GDR. This absorbing study explores the ways in which the tentacles of the all-pervading state captured East German society in the grip of the Stasi, party, and mass organizations, and analyses the emergence in the 1980s of oppositional cultures under the ambivalent shelter of a Protestant Church which had come to terms with the communist state. In combining careful archival research with broader theoretical and historical interpretation, Anatomy of a Dictatorship makes a major contribution to debates on recent German history and the character of contemporary Germany.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best English-language account of the GDR, Aug 23 1998
By nessanders - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949-1989 (Hardcover)
Mary Fulbrook has done an excellent job in writing a concise analysis of the GDR in plain English. The book is very well researched and Professor Fulbrook has a clear and compassionate understanding of her subject. Her thesis that the GDR can be best classified as a dictatorship is convincing and well argued.I am myself researching the role of the Protestant Church in the GDR, and was pleased to find a chapter in Fulbrook's book devoted to this subject. Western scholars have a record of embarassing themselves (out of ignorance) on topics such as this, but Fulbrook does an outstanding job.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best recent English-language account of the GDR, Aug 21 1998
By nessanders - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949-1989 (Hardcover)
Mary Fulbrook has done an excellent job in succinctly analysing the political system of the GDR, arguing that the former East Germany state is best classified as a "dictatorship". Her writing is easily understood by non-specialists and her compassion and attention to detail heightens the reader's interest in this fascinating subject. The book is excellently researched, with Professor Fulbrook combing the now open East German State and Party archives to present new material alongside her central thesis. Her insightful chapter on the role of the Church is especially welcome, since this subject has long been recognised by German scholars as of central importance, but is too often neglected or misunderstood by non-Germans academics. "Anatomy" is clearly the best book to recently appear on the "first socialist state on German soil".
8 of 29 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Tedious tale of a totalitarian state, Nov 12 1997
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949-1989 (Hardcover)
Mary Fulbrook's review of the former East German state misses the point totally. It is too longwinded, bogged down in detail and fails to underline the major key principle, that the GDR was loved by over half of its population despite what the Western media would have us believe. Having spoken to former East German citizens, the book seems to be too concerned with the origins of the Soviet satellite state and doesn't address the issue that most East Germans were content with their state. In all, I found the book overpriced, badly researched and most disappointing.
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