'An illuminating survey that would serve will any undergraduate course in European or German history or politics. Alter deftly synthesizes the most important secondary texts on the subject.' History Journal (US) 'An intelligent and readable guide to the question which caused most trouble in Europe from the Congress of Vienna to German unification in 1990. The book is an admirably concise survey and will be very useful to students.' English Historical Review 'This book is quite an achievement: it manages to deal with a subject of great complexity and depth, and over a long time-span (1815 to present day), yet does so in a way which will be accessible to all readers, academic and non-academic.' German History 'The book is well written and easy to comprehend. The brevity of the book is actually one of its biggest strengths. Alter manages to describe the developments and the historical questions they have raised in such a way that the reader feels informed in one glance and ready to move on to more detailed questions. In this way Alter's book has to be highly recommended for all beginners in the study of the German question in the European context.' German Politics