Both of these books by James Hawes cover several thousand years of history in about 230-270 pages, so they do live up to the title. There are probably shorter pocket histories out there, but these will give you a pretty clear-eyed overview of the two countries. I liked The Shortest History of England enough that I got the German one, but found it less engaging. I think it might be more attributable to me, as I’m way more interested in England and tend to founder in German history, but I also got the sense that he was more interested in English history or had more passion for it. The England book seemed more lively somehow.
I appreciated that both books covered information that I didn’t know before, especially the historical repercussions of things like the North/South divide in England that you wouldn’t notice were as important as they are and continue to be. The fact that the split in Germany between the West and East dates back to Caesar was pretty mind-boggling to me. I’d know about the English North/South divide, but how long it’s been going on and all the different ways it impacts the country hadn’t been as clear to me. Hawes does a very good job of condensing the broad sweep of history in a comprehensible and engaging way. I liked his use of very straight forward charts, which sometimes were comically simplified. I felt that both books filled in some gaps in my general knowledge, which I appreciated. Overall, the English book is the one I’d recommend, as the German one just didn’t click with me as much. Again, I do think that’s more to do with my personal lack of interest in Germany beyond Victoria, Princess Royal and Kaiser Wilhelm II, and someone who’s more into Germany would probably like it.
3 stars for Germany, 5 stars for England — average 4 stars.