{"title":"Gary Bruce","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"through-the-lion-gate-book-gary-bruce-9780197617236","title":"Through the Lion Gate","description":"In 1943, fierce aerial bombardment razed the Berlin zoo and killed most of its animals. But only two months after the war's end, Berliners had already resurrected it, reopening its gates and creating a symbol of endurance in the heart of a shattered city. The Berlin zoo therefore offers one of the most unusual--yet utterly compelling--lenses through which to view German history. This enormously popular attraction closely mirrored each of the political systems under which it existed: the authoritarian monarchy of the kaiser, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and the post-1945 democratic and communist states.  In Through the Lion Gate, Gary Bruce provides the first English-language history of the Berlin zoo, from its founding in 1844 until the 1990 unification of the West Berlin and East Berlin zoos. At the center of the capital's social life, the Berlin zoo helped to shape German views not only of the animal world but also of the human world for more than 150 years. Given its enormous reach, the German government used the zoo to spread its political message, from the ethnographic display \"exotic\" peoples in the late nineteenth century to the Nazis' bizarre attempts to breed back long-extinct European cattle.  By exploring the intersection of zoology, politics, and leisure, Bruce shows why the Berlin zoo was the most beloved institution in Germany for so long: it allowed people to dream of another place, far away from an often grim reality. It is not purely coincidence that the profound connection of Berliners to their zoo intensified through the bloody twentieth century. Its exotic, iconic animals--including Rostom the elephant, Knautschke the hippo, and Evi the sun bear--seemed to satisfy, even partially, a longing for a better, more tranquil world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49558043590929,"sku":"GOR013583358","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52734492967185,"sku":"NIN9780197617236","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0197617239.jpg?v=1772273214"},{"product_id":"firm-book-gary-bruce-9780195392050","title":"The Firm","description":"Based on previously classified documents and on interviews with former secret police officers and ordinary citizens, The Firm is the first comprehensive history of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi, at the grassroots level. Focusing on Gransee and Perleberg, two East German districts located north of Berlin, Gary Bruce reveals how the Stasi monitored small-town East Germany. He paints an eminently human portrait of those involved with this repressive arm of the government, featuring interviews with former officers that uncover a wide array of personalities, from devoted ideologues to reluctant opportunists, most of whom talked frankly about East Germany's obsession with surveillance. Their paths after the collapse of Communism are gripping stories of resurrection and despair, of renewal and demise, of remorse and continued adherence to the movement. The book also sheds much light on the role of the informant, the Stasi's most important tool in these out-of-the-way areas. Providing on-the-ground empirical evidence of how the Stasi operated on a day-to-day basis with ordinary people, this remarkable volume offers an unparalleled picture of life in a totalitarian state.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49758948884753,"sku":"CIN0195392051G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52433652875537,"sku":"NLS9780195392050","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52858197704977,"sku":"GOR007560390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0195392051.jpg?v=1750780109"},{"product_id":"through-the-lion-gate-book-gary-bruce-9780190234980","title":"Through the Lion Gate","description":"In 1943, fierce aerial bombardment razed the Berlin zoo and killed most of its animals. But only two months after the war's end, Berliners had already resurrected it, reopening its gates and creating a symbol of endurance in the heart of a shattered city. As this episode shows, the Berlin zoo offers one of the most unusual--yet utterly compelling--lenses through which to view German history. This enormously popular attraction closely mirrored each of the political systems under which it existed: the authoritarian monarchy of the kaiser, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and the post-1945 democratic and communist states.  Gary Bruce provides the first English-language history of the Berlin zoo, from its founding in 1844 until the 1990 unification of the West Berlin and East Berlin zoos. At the center of the capital's social life, the Berlin zoo helped to shape German views not only of the animal world but also of the human world for more than 150 years. Given its enormous reach, the German government used the zoo to spread its political message, from the ethnographic display of Africans, Inuit, and other \"exotic\" peoples in the late nineteenth century to the Nazis' bizarre attempts to breed back long-extinct European cattle.  By exploring the intersection of zoology, politics, and leisure, Bruce shows why the Berlin zoo was the most beloved institution in Germany for so long: it allowed people to dream of another place, far away from an often grim reality. It is not purely coincidence that the profound connection of Berliners to their zoo intensified through the bloody twentieth century. Its exotic, iconic animals--including Rostom the elephant, Knautschke the hippo, and Evi the sun bear--seemed to satisfy, even partially, a longing for a better, more tranquil world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50576163897617,"sku":"CIN0190234989VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50999561552145,"sku":"NIN9780190234980","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51756587319569,"sku":"CIN0190234989G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52488692039953,"sku":"NLS9780190234980","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0190234989.jpg?v=1751037404"},{"product_id":"firm-book-gary-bruce-9780199896578","title":"The Firm","description":"The Firm is the first book to trace the history of the Stasi at a district level, the level closest to the population. Based on previously inaccessible secret police files and interviews with former members of the East German security apparatus, it provides an unparalleled picture of life in a totalitarian state.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51693719257361,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51693720666385,"sku":"CIN0199896577G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51916312477969,"sku":"CIN0199896577VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52388134125841,"sku":"GOR007465311","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52673806926097,"sku":"NLS9780199896578","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52734623219985,"sku":"NIN9780199896578","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0199896577.jpg?v=1750694933"},{"product_id":"resistance-with-the-people-book-gary-bruce-9780742524873","title":"Resistance with the People","description":"In the years immediately following WW II, East Germans found themselves dealing with a Communist system that methodically violated their basic rights, including the freedoms of speech and of personal legal security. Many East Germans fundamentally resisted these developments, calling for nothing short of the end of the Communist system in East Germany. This political resistance to Communism was most tangible in the actions of members of the non-Marxist parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party, and in the massive uprising that ripped through East Germany in the summer of 1953. Bystanders gaped as East Germans from all walks of life rose up in June 1953, smashing through prison gates and releasing prisoners, dragging judges and lawyers through the streets, and toppling statues of Stalin. Rocks and sticks, however, were no match for the Soviet tanks which moved in to crush the rebellion.   By examining previously untapped documents of the East German Ministry for State Security, the police, and the Communist Party, Gary Bruce closely details the underground work of political opponents and secret police attempts to subdue them. Bruce takes issue with those who claim that the June 1953 uprising was merely labour unrest resulting from poor working conditions, showing the demonstrations of 1953 were a revolution that was sparked largely by the government's abuse of basic rights. Students and scholars of European Cold War history will find Resistance with the people an invaluable resource for exploring the political resistance of East Germans against the Communist regime.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52375841112337,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52375841440017,"sku":"CIN0742524876G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780742524873.jpg?v=1758212556"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/author-books-by-gary-bruce.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}