Eyck's work on Weimar used to be one of the standard texts for studying 20th century German history. And it has aged quite well. It is a straight political history, and the reader will receive a comprehensive detailing of the major players in government and industry. Probably the best section is Eyck's unraveling of the proclamation of the postwar republic and how it came about in almost an offhand way. One can never tell what will happen while having soup for lunch. Upon such an auspicious occasion did the Weimar Republic first appear. From there, it was all downhill: war guilt, reparations, inflation, street battles between Communists and National Socialists. The culture of the era is another matter, but that is the subject for other texts. This one deals with the central issues of the political divides. ( )