Hello historians! I am looking for a book that explains the history of Germany (from as far away as possible to as close to the current time as available). I am a casual reader that wants to get a general idea of how the history of Germany flowed from the Roman times to our current times. I was looking at "The Shortest History of Germany" by J. M. Hawes and "Germany: Memories of a Nation" by Neil MacGregor, but after reading some of their reviews I decided to see if there any other available options (TSHG apparently is biased against the Prussians and while GMN is accurate, apparently it reads too much like a textbook).
I'd love to see if there are any other options for someone who's casually interested and would want to read a book that has some personality, but that would like to get the facts as accurately as possible. I'd love to hear if you know any recommendations! Thanks for your help!
Now this is interesting because many nation-centric historical writing often consists of either a particular era or a particular state. "Germany" as conceived as a state with Berlin as its capital is only as old as 1871, and if you want that then I highly recommend Micheal Stürmer's "The German Empire". It is a brief read that can get you up to speed on the nuances of the state building of the newly unified Germany and some of the prior history beforehand. However, as it pertains to your question concerning Germany from the Romans, I can't really recommend anything beyond what you have already mentioned. I would look at literature concerning the Holy Roman Empire, such as "The Holy Roman Empire" by Peter Wilson, or "Society and Economy in Germany" by Tom Scott. Other than that, I'd recommend choosing certain eras or German states and going from there. If you want to look at something less anti-Prussian I would highly recommend Christopher Clark's "Iron Kingdom". I apologize that I can't give you a concise answer but German history is fragmented and multi-static so it is necessary to diversify the nature of the historiography you consume. I think the best thing to understand that Germany as we know it is a 19th century construction, and this should inform how we view its historiography. I hope this helps!
I'm a little surprised that "Germany: Memories of a Nation" would read like a textbook, but any published book is connected to MacGregor's series of the same name on BBC Radio Four, which is available as a free podcast and which is excellent. It's in the same vein as MacGregor's History of the World in 100 Objects - MacGregor is the Director of the British Museum and so both projects use tangible physical objects in order to tell stories that weave together into a larger history.