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Oct 2022
51m 10s

Berlin’s turbulent 20th century

IMMEDIATE MEDIA
About this episode
Sinclair McKay traces the history of the German city through the lives of its inhabitants, and how they weathered the tumult of the 20th century – from the wild hedonism of the Weimar years cut short by Nazism, to the fall of the famed wall that divided East and West. (Ad) Sinclair McKay is the author of Berlin: Life and Loss in the City That Shaped the C ... Show More
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