From its early pages it feels as though Sinclair McKay was born to write this book.

Characteristically perceptive and fast-paced, McKay’s new book artfully plunges its readers into contrasting layers of history.

Students of film history will revel in McKay’s account of Berlin’s innovative filmmakers.

Readers with an interest in the life of cities, 20th-century European history, World War II, and the Cold War will appreciate McKay’s well-researched book..

... anecdotally rich if somewhat lopsided.

McKay focuses intensely on this period; more than half the book chronicles the collapse of the Nazi regime and the arrival of the Russians. Unfortunately, this brutal period has already been analyzed countless times, as shown by the book’s extensive bibliography, and the author has little new to add.