General reading

Germany

Clark, Christopher (2007). Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. London: Penguin. - With great flair and authority, Christopher Clark describes Prussia's great battles, dynastic marriages and astonishing reversals of fortune, its brilliant and charismatic leaders from the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg to Bismarck and Frederick the Great, the military machine and the progressive, enlightened values on which it was built.

*Fulbrook, Mary (1990). A Concise History of Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - Mary Fulbrook's much-admired and popular introduction to German history provides a clear and informative guide to the twists and turns of the story of the German lands and peoples from the early middle ages to the present day

Fulbrook. Mary (2015). A History of Germany: 1918-2014, The Divided Nation. Hobeken: John Whiley & Sons LTD. - An excellent accompaniment to the Germany course as Fulbrook traces the course of social. cultural, economic and political tension in Germany since 1918.

*Layton, Gefforey (2009). Access to History: From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany 1900-1945. London: Hodder Education. - Layton is very readable and accessible for A level students. Its early chapters are helpful for understanding Imperial Germany (also helpful for the coursework unit). It provides detailed accounts of the Weimar and Nazi years. Layton is available second hand from £1.83 and we highly recommend you buy a copy.

*Lower, Wendy (2014). Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields. New York; Vintage. - Lower shows us the ordinary women who became perpetrators of genocide. Drawing on decades of research, she uncovers a truth that has been in the shadows – that women too were brutal killers and that, in ignoring women’s culpability, we have ignored the reality of the Holocaust.

*MacGregor, Neil (2016). Germany: Memories of a Nation. London: Penguin. - An excellent book that explores the history of Germany through buildings and objects from the Brandenburg Gate to notgeld currency from the Hyperinflation crisis of 1923. A must read for anyone wanting to understand Germany as a country more.

Italy

*Bull, Anna Cento (2016). Modern Italy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Bull considers the history of Italy from the Risorgimento and Unification, through the two World Wars and Fascism under Mussolini, to the present day.

Duggan, Christopher (2008). The Force of Destiny: A History of Italy since 1796. London: Penguin. - Christopher Duggan, lays waste to the idea that Italy is relaxed and laid back culture. While sharing everyone's enthusiasm for Italy as a place, he strongly distinguishes this from its political role over the past two centuries, which has been both vicious and ruinous for Europe as a whole

*Duggan, Christopher (1994). A Concise History of Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. - Christopher Duggan's acclaimed introduction charts the country's history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the west to the present day and surveys the difficulties Italy has faced during the last two centuries in forging a nation state.

Moorhead, Caroline. (2019). A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy from Fascism. New York; Vintage. - The extraordinary story of the courageous women who spearheaded the Italian Resistance during the Second World War.

Britain

David, Saul (2007). Victoria's War: The Rise of Empire. London: Penguin. - In the early part of Queen Victoria's reign, the British Empire almost quintupled in size. It was well on the way to becoming the greatest empire the world had ever seen. This is the story of how it happened and the people who made it happen. In a fast-moving narrative that ranges from London to the harsh terrain of India, Russia and the Far East, Saul David shows how Britain ruthlessly exploited its position as the world's only superpower to expand their empire.

Hobsbawm, Eric John (2014). The age of Empire: 1875-1914. - The splendid finale to Eric Hobsbawm's study of the 19th century, The Age of Empire covers the area of Western Imperialism and examines the forces that swept the world to the outbreak of World War One - and shaped modern society.

McDonough, F (1994). The British Empire. London: Hodder and Stoughton. - The book sets the Empire within a broad historical context and not only explains its evolution and expansion in Africa and Asia, but also considers its impact on British politics, popular culture and society.

Europe

*Hobsbawn, Eric (1995). Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991. London: Abacus. - Eric Hobsbawm's personal vision of the twentieth century. Remarkable in its scope, and breathtaking in its depth of knowledge, this immensely rewarding book reviews the uniquely destructive and creative nature of the troubled twentieth century and makes challenging predictions for the future.

Kershaw, Ian (2016). To Hell and Back; Europe, 1914-1949. London: Penguin. - To Hell and Back tells this story with humanity, flair and originality. Kershaw gives a compelling narrative of events, but he also wrestles with the most difficult issues that the events raise - with what it meant for the Europeans who initiated and lived through such fearful times - and what this means for us.

Mazower, Mark (1999). Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century. London: Penguin. - Dark Continent radically overturns the myth of Europe as a safe haven of democracy to redefine our view of the twentieth century.

Overy, Richard (2010). The Morbid Age: Britain and the Crisis of Civilisation. London: Penguin. - Richard Overy's The Morbid Age opens a window onto the creative but anxious period between the First and Second World Wars

*Payne, Stanley G (1996). A History of Fascism: 1914-1945. Abingdon: Routledge. - Stanely G. Payne presents a full history of fascism in interwar Europe, as well as a survey of fascist theory and postwar fascism.