Berlin (PDF)

Located at the epicentre of modern Europe's most significant and turbulent events, Berlin has long held a magnetic attraction for writers. From nineteenth-century authors recording the city's dramatic transition from Prussian Hauptstadt to German capital after 1871 and the modernist intellectuals of the Weimar period, to the resistance writers brave enough to write during the dark years of the Nazi era and those who captured life on both sides of the divided city, a body of literature has emerged that reveals Berlin's ever-shifting identity. Since 1989, Berlin has yet again become a crucible of creativity, serving as both muse and sanctuary for a new generation of writers who regularly claim it as one of the most exciting cities in the world. Berlin: A Literary Guide for Travellers illuminates some of the finest writing in and about Berlin. Spanning more than 200 years of local life and literature, it features German authors as diverse as Goethe, Nietzsche, Marx, Hermann Hesse and Joseph Roth and a kaleidoscope of famous international names such as Mark Twain, Philip Hensher, Walter Benjamin and Christopher Isherwood. It is also a singular guide to some of the best sights, most vibrant neighbourhoods and best-kept local secrets that this unique city has to offer. 'A rich and learned companion for every lover of Berlin; bursting with anecdote and alive with history. A must.' Rory MacLean, author of Berlin: Imagine a City