John Kampfner is a  veteran British foreign-affairs correspondent with years of experience reporting from Germany.  His last book was Why the Germany Does it Better. Notes from a Grown-Up Country. As the title of that work suggests, Kampfner is a great admirer of Germany, and his new book displays a grest affection for Germany's capital city.  Kampfner sets out to describe "Berlin exceptionalism": the spirit of anarchic freedom and creativity that sets Berlin apart from so many other German and European cities.  The book's chapters are arranged chronologically,  depicting the great events and upheavals, the triumphs and the catastrophes, of German history that have shaped and shaken Berlin  over the past 300 years.   Berlin's need to repeatedly  "reinvent" itself, argues Kampfner, accounts for the incredible cultural vitality,  the sense of freedom and abandon, that has been attracting creative  talents to Berlin for centuries.

Click here to add text.