We are often asked by clients for books we have particularly enjoyed which have featured Berlin or have shed light on Germany's convoluted history. Whether fiction or non-fiction, here is a completely subjective list!

Nick:
"Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood
Probably the best piece of fiction written in English by an author who experienced Berlin at first hand in the early 1930s. He created the character Sally Bowles and provided the material for the stories behind "Cabaret". Seventy years after it was written, it's still a great read! » Buy this book

"The Last Days of Hitler" by Hugh Trevor-Roper
Again, an excellent piece of prose which illuminates much more than the events in the bunker, explaining all the Byzantine twists in the demise of the Third Reich. » Buy this book

Serena:
"Berlin Then & Now" by Nick Gay
This is a lovely book which will do far more than grace your coffee table. Packed with gorgeous pictures and accompanied by an intelligent commentary, the book presents scenes of old Berlin juxtaposed with the same scenes today. The book would make a great gift for people who have visited Berlin or who plan a visit. The author's name is familiar - can't think why! » Buy this book

Gabriel:
"The Third Reich - a new history" by Michael Burleigh
The most readable and comprehensive recent history of the Third Reich, first published in 2000. » Buy this book

"Topography of Terror: A Documentation"
An excellent short history of the SS and Gestapo, with biographies on both perpetrators and victims, and well translated from the German. Available in many bookshops in Berlin, but buy it on site to save €s! (We take you through this site on our "Infamous Third Reich Sites" tour).

Torben:
"The Weimar Republic" by Detlev Peukert
The best interpretation of Weimar there is, and gives readers a sense of why the Nazis were able to establish their regime; he points out where there were continuities between Weimar and Nazi Germany; it is not, however, a light read! » Buy this book

"Hitler" (2 volumes) by Ian Kershaw
The most recent major biography of Hitler in English. » Buy this book

Fabian:
"The Last Division - A History of Berlin, 1945-1989" by Ann Tusa
A factual political background history of the developments in post-war Berlin from the beginning of the Cold War to its end. » Buy this book

"Berlin Diaries, 1940-1945" by Marie Vassiltchikov.
The diaries of an exiled Russian aristocrat living in Berlin through the war. » Buy this book

Kristin/Sarah:
"Stasiland: True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall" by Anna Funder
Written by an Australian who lived in East Berlin and was working on a documentary about the Stasi, and therefore interviewed lots of informers and victims, it’s really interesting to read (indeed it reads like a gripping novel) and being written from a non-German perspective is perhaps more objective. » Buy this book

Sarah:
"Berlin: The Downfall 1945" by Antony Beevor
Another favorite Berlin book of mine - this is an excellent, detailed account of the end of World War 2 in Berlin. » Buy this book

Ellie:
"Defying Hitler: a memoir" (in German "Geschichte eines Deutschen") by Sebastian Haffner
A very personal account of a child's life during the First World War and his later disgust at the rise of Hitler and Naziism. » Buy this book

Mort:
"Berlin Rising: Biography of a City" by Anthony Read and Fisher
Full of good anecdotes and very easy to read. » Buy this book

"Faust's Metropolis" by Alexandra Ritchie.
A more scholarly look at the history of Berlin. » Buy this book

"The Last Jews in Berlin" by Leonard Gross.
An extraordinary account tracing how a handful of people survived in a supposedly “Judenfrei” Berlin, showing their own ingenuity and how they were helped by a small number of people. » Buy this book

…and finally, two novels which I have enjoyed for their recreations of Berlin past:

"Berlin Noir" a trilogy by Phillip Kerr, set in late 1930s Berlin.
» Buy this book

"The Good German" by Joseph Kanon, set in the immediate aftermath of the war.
» Buy this book

Tom:
"Uncommon Woman" (Empress Victoria) by Hanna Pakula.
A life of the English princess, Victoria, known as Vickie. She was the oldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and, at the age of 17, she married the future German Emperor Friedrich the 3rd who ruled for just 99 days in 1888. Shunned by courtiers and despised by Bismarck, she then had to face all the trials which her son, Wilhelm 2nd, set for her. A marvellous insight into Vickie and the complications of late 19th century German history. » Buy this book

"Frederick the Great" by Nancy Mitford.
In her inimitable fashion, Mitford unfolds the story of Frederick II, the great rococo King of Prussia. In spite or perhaps because of his extraordinary military and artistic achievements, Frederick remained a man of great loneliness. From his troubled childhood to his lonely death, Mitford examines Frederick through the eyes of his very few friends and his beloved sister Wilhelmina. » Buy this book

Hannah:
"Jewish Berlin" by Bill Rebiger
Perhaps the best up-to-date account available, giving info on both the history of the community and how the community has developed recently.

Jim:
"Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy" by Eric Weitz
A magnificent history of Weimar, looking at cultural, political and economic history in a lively and lucid way.

Henry:
"The Villa, The Lake, The Meeting: Wannsee and the Final Solution" by Mark Rosemann
A concise, highly readable and engrossing account of the Final Solution and the Wannsee Conference. » Buy this book

"Nazi Terror: The Gestapo, Jews and Ordinary Germans" by Eric A. Johnson.
A benchmark work in Holocaust studies. A balanced and unbiased account of the role of ordinary Germans in the Holocaust. » Buy this book

…and, finally, if you are already in Berlin, where can you find a good bookstore?
One of the best in Berlin is called Berlin Story (not to be confused with "Story of Berlin", the historical exhibition on the Ku'damm!). Berlin Story is located on Unter den Linden, one block down from Friedrichstrasse next to the Café Einstein. They claim to stock 250 titles on Berlin in English alone and specialize in hard-to-find books not available elsewhere!