Walking in Berlin: A Flaneur in the Capital (Mit Press)

I've bought this book to research Berlin in the 1920s, and found it very informative. The author notices the smallest details and tells captivating stories.

Was hoping for a brisk and enlightening jaunt of a read, a mix of Benjamin and Sebald, perhaps. Sadly, no. This book, while in parts interesting, is laregly amazingly dull. Leave it to the scholars and those familiar with Weltvongestern Germany.

I ordered this book for someone else and the person was very satisfied

Late 1920s Berlin is the time and setting for this walking and driving tour of Germany's capital by a very capable writer, one with an eye toward historical and social detail. If you have had the opportunity to visit or live in Berlin, Franz Hessel's essays will be of keen interest, with more than some of his materiel on buildings, monuments, and districts still relevant today. Disappointingly, there is not much here about the political undercurrent then throbbing that would soon lead to the Second World War and the Holocaust. A preface is provided by Walter Benjamin, who, as an aside and to my mind, was a clearly superior writer to Mr. Hessel.

Although this book sometimes dragged on a bit, it was still somewhat interesting for me; I am visiting Berlin in June and some of the areas that were rich then are apparently still rich now, while some of the areas that were poor then are gentrifying now.