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My upcoming 9th grader really wants to learn about the history of Germany next year. He is a history nut and has already taught me more about world history than I ever learned in school. At first I was having a hard time finding resources and thought we were going to have to do general European history instead. I have finally started finding some resources. I'm trying to use 8's Homeschooling at the Helm to come up with some things for him to look through so we can decide on our plan. We may have to make it the history of Europe (or even just of the Axis powers) if I can't find enough on German history, but considering how much he loves history I would really like to give it a try.

 

If you were teaching German history in high school what books, movies, or other resources would you absolutely want to include?

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You aren’t really going to find textbooks. Even German kids don’t study “German†history in high school, they study European history. However, there are some popular history books that look interesting.

 

Cambridge has a “Concise History of Germany†by Mary Fullbrook. There is “A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People†by Stephen Ozment, a Harvard historian. Finally, “Germania†by Simon Winder. Its not straight history, it seems to be a bit of a travelogue with history and anecdotes, but that can be fun too.

 

I can personally recommend “German: Biography of a language†by Ruth H. Sanders. She is a German professor, not a history professor, but her book is very approachable, and super interesting with a lot of history thrown in.

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I am watching Die Deutschen with my high schoolers. You can find the series online in German, but also with English subtitles.

 

Does he read German? There are some German options out there.

Thank you! That looks great. He doesn't know any German yet; we're starting Saturday as a whole family. If I can find it with English subtitles we will definitely use it.
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You aren’t really going to find textbooks. Even German kids don’t study “German†history in high school, they study European history. However, there are some popular history books that look interesting.

 

Cambridge has a “Concise History of Germany†by Mary Fullbrook. There is “A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People†by Stephen Ozment, a Harvard historian. Finally, “Germania†by Simon Winder. Its not straight history, it seems to be a bit of a travelogue with history and anecdotes, but that can be fun too.

 

I can personally recommend “German: Biography of a language†by Ruth H. Sanders. She is a German professor, not a history professor, but her book is very approachable, and super interesting with a lot of history thrown in.

I'm not a huge fan of using just textbooks anyway. Trying to piece it together without some sort of backbone is a bit challenging, though. Though I do like this sort of challenge! Thank you for the recommendations. Two were in my Amazon cart as a reminder to check if the library has them. I'll definitely look for the Sanders book, especially since we're just starting to learn the language!
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