Remission

 

A Short History of the Weimar Republic by Colin Storer

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2019, c2013.

vii, 239 p. : ill., map ; 23 cm.   

I really love history and when I was putting this new book on the shelf the other day, I realized that I really don't know much about the Weimar Republic, that dynamic and short-lived German republic sandwiched between the ruin of one world war brought about by its preceding imperial government and the ruin of the Nazi, fascist dictatorship that marked the death of the Weimar Republic.

It was a striking thirteen years that Weimar survived, and the author is as interested in pointing out its successes and achievements as he is in documenting its eventual failure and collapse.  This was where I learned quite a lot of new information. 

I had always assumed - as many have done - that it was the crushing reparations forced on Germany after WWI that doomed the Weimar Republic to economic chaos and eventual disaster.  It's not that this was not a crucial factor in its demise, but I hadn't realized the successes that the Weimar government (under Chancellor Stresemann) had in negotiating down the burdens of its reparations. However, the fragility fo Weimar's economy and its dependence on the chaotic international economic system made it especially susceptible to the onset of the great depression in 1929.  

Storer also wants to point out that politically, Weimar managed to survive as a democratic state longer than other Central European states. He also notes the many artistic, scientific and cultural achievements of Weimar.  

There is a lot to mull over (and grieve) when reading about Weimar. Like many books of history leading up to the rise of the Nazis, one knows how it ends, but the pain is seeing that it didn't have to go the way it did and could have turned out much differently and much better, of course.

I'll definitely keep this book in mind if a student has an interest in the period.  It's an accessible and short introduction to this critical time in twentieth century Europe.

A Wonder of Wonderland

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

New York : Imprint, 2018.     

370 p. ; 22 cm.

I wish I liked contemporary fantasy/action better because I think then I would have really loved this novel.  It has some of that familiar territory of dual worlds with only certain people (or characters) having the ability to travel between them.  Alice, the main character of A Blade So Black, is one of these people.  She can visit Wonderland where nightmares come from, and there she can battle them and help keep the human world safe.  

Alice is also a young Black woman, a high-schooler who's father has recently died and whose mother worries dreadfully about her well-being in this real world (Atlanta, GA to be specific) that is so dangerous for young Black women. 

Turns out Alice is also a very talented warrior against nightmares and so is part of an elite group of humans known as Dreamwalkers who do battle against the dangers of Wonderland that threaten to overtake the regular world the rest of us live in.

Oh, and the other fun catch to this novel is that it cleverly echoes the Alice in Wonderland story. As you can see there is A LOT going for this book.  Some reviews have noted some hiccups in the pacing (I would agree) and a bit of vagueness in the "world-building" of Wonderland (also agree), but the reviews also note the great character building and dynamic fight scenes that McKinney has created.  Yes, I would agree.  To students who like Neil Gaiman or Cassandra Clare or who just want something exciting and otherworldly I would definitely recommend this book. The fact that the hero is an African American teen young woman who has to deal with parent-rules, school, crushes, and teen life is an added benefit.

Finally, the book does wrap-up (SORT OF) at the end, but then closes with an epilogue teaser that means there will be more novels taking up the adventures of Alice the Dreamwalker.