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Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read for Those Interested in German History
Review: Before the Deluge is a wonderful, compelling social history of Berlin between the wars. It explores the fascinating social, cultural, and scientific developments in Berlin as the political drama of Nazism plays out in the background. In these pages you will meet some of the 20th century's greatest politicians, artists, filmmakers, scientists, etc. who meet in the crossroads of Central Europe. Where else can you get Karajan, Einstein, Isherwood, Hitler, Weil, Garbo, and Lang in the same book........And, if you like this book, also try Olympia: Paris in the Age of Manet or City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's - both by Friedrich: both of them are equally good.
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Summary: Buy it, read it, learn from it
Review: I borrowed this book from a friend. Now I am buying it. This is one of the few history books which can grab your emotion and takes it on a roller coaster ride. Even though I know how it is going to turn out, somehow I hoped for a different ending throughout the book. You are taken on a journey to pre-WWII Germany and find out the social context which gave birth to the Nazi movement. The trauma of WWI gave rise to undirected violence. That trauma also gave birth to the Dada movement. That same trauma is also expressed in the younger generation who grew up to be SS storm troopers and caretakers of the death camps. The same thing might happen anywhere, anywhen in the world. That is the sobering part.
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Summary: Scatterbrained
Review: I felt that this book skipped around too much. It had many interesting facts but there was no flow. When the author should have stayed on one topic and developed it, he moved onto another. There was poor closure on some topics and others were not properly introduced to the reader.
If you want a book with large quantities of interesting information but little organization or explanation, this is your book.
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Summary: Absolutly fascinating!
Review: I had to read this book for my Europe 1914-1945 class. I appreciated the interviews that are scattered throughout the book from those that were there and also the "dirty history" I was imparted with along with the normal historical narative. Before the Deluge would be a wonderful book for those interested in Nazi Germany because Friedrich gives you all the information that sets up Berlin and Germany for the Third Reich.
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Summary: Interesting, but flawed and dated
Review: I liked this, but the authors cultural, artistic, and political approach was uneven. The idea was to take a broadbrush stroke across Berliner society in the 20's. It failed.First, "No Maps!" This is the curse of these histories. I was driven to my "London Times Atlas" to find the the Communist stronghold of Wedding. And Prussia constitues how much of the Weimar Republic? (Minus one star.) Second, the bearest hint of what it is like to live a low-middle class life in-between the wars. Why would a ribbon clerk in Spandau vote for the SPD in 1928. I don't know. It is the ordinary people, and not Bernard Brecht, Albert Einstein, Joey Goebbels that put their shoulder to the wheel of history. Naked female stage shows aside. (Minus another star.) In addition, new information from the Osti archives and interviews could up-date this considerably (if any of them are left alive).
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Summary: Excellent book on Berlin in the 20s
Review: I'm just finishing this book. Like Mr. Friedrich's "City of Nets", it's a fascinating read, well-researched & highly literate with much humor & many interviews with first-hand participants of those incredible years. Ignore the ignorami who have to denigrate a fine piece of work because it doesn't meet their narrow politically-correct preconceptions.
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Summary: Scatterbrained
Review: The reader below who bemoans (understandably) the lack of maps in this edition can blame the publisher; there were excellent maps on the inner cover, front and back, of the hardcover edition. The book is an excellent introduction to the Weimar years.
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Summary: There were maps on the inner cover, front and back...
Review: The reader below who bemoans (understandably) the lack of maps in this edition can blame the publisher; there were excellent maps on the inner cover, front and back, of the hardcover edition. The book is an excellent introduction to the Weimar years.
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Summary: Aanecdotal, biographical and fascinating
Review: To many, calling a book "anecdotal" is to condemn it as lacking in historical rigor. I disagree. To me, being anecdotal is synonomous with being readable---after all, who wants to be bored when reading for pleasure? Ralph Waldo Emermson said that "there is no history, only biography." This book paints a portrait of Berlin by assembling a collage of personalities who lived there during the 1920's and 30's and who were prominent in film (Marlene Deitrich and Peter Lorre), art, music, literature (Isherwood from "Cabaret" is one, Brecht is another), science (Einstein for one), crime (serial killers-a sign of cultural decline) and ultimately politics (Goering air hero and drug addict, Goebbels the novelist and manipulator, and Hitler the artist and underestimated Southern corporal)---for politics is what ulimately dominated Germany after 1933. Some will find the portrait uncomfortable--after all, Hitler was a moderate leftist and his Berlin cronies (Gregor Strasser and Goebbels) were far left. His supporters were the unemployed, college students, women, and teachers--- traditional stalwarts of the Democratic Party in the United States. This book will tell you how they came to support the National Socialist German Workers' Party---The N.S. otherwise known as the NA---(N)--ZI's (S's). Overall, this book is just a good read. It covers a broad range of topics, is filled with interesting anecdotes, and will have something which should interest just about every reader. Enjoy it.
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Summary: Aanecdotal, biographical and fascinating
Review: To many, calling a book "anecdotal" is to condemn it as lacking in historical rigor. I disagree. To me, being anecdotal is synonomous with being readable---after all, who wants to be bored when reading for pleasure? Ralph Waldo Emermson said that "there is no history, only biography." This book paints a portrait of Berlin by assembling a collage of personalities who lived there during the 1920's and 30's and who were prominent in film (Marlene Deitrich and Peter Lorre), art, music, literature (Isherwood from "Cabaret" is one, Brecht is another), science (Einstein for one), crime (serial killers-a sign of cultural decline) and ultimately politics (Goering air hero and drug addict, Goebbels the novelist and manipulator, and Hitler the artist and underestimated Southern corporal)---for politics is what ulimately dominated Germany after 1933. Some will find the portrait uncomfortable--after all, Hitler was a moderate leftist and his Berlin cronies (Gregor Strasser and Goebbels) were far left. His supporters were the unemployed, college students, women, and teachers--- traditional stalwarts of the Democratic Party in the United States. This book will tell you how they came to support the National Socialist German Workers' Party---The N.S. otherwise known as the NA---(N)--ZI's (S's). Overall, this book is just a good read. It covers a broad range of topics, is filled with interesting anecdotes, and will have something which should interest just about every reader. Enjoy it.
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