1923

“A gripping narrative.”

“Well researched and clearly written, recounting the putsch and the events leading up to it with authority and verve.”

"Jones’ vivid, crisp, impressively sustained narrative captures the shocking panorama of violence of the Ruhr story."
 

"Refreshing and readable."
 

"An impressive and important addition to our understanding of the history of Germany between the wars and to our events that led to the Nazi rise to power and the Second World War...Mark Jones’s book is highly recommended. It is a fluent and often gripping account of the deeply-disturbing history, neatly linking the events of 1923 and that period with Germany’s subsequent dark history—and nor does it flinch from drawing parallels with when democracies fail to deal properly with political extremists."
 

"Informative."

"[A] solidly rendered history."

“Mark Williams Jones’s 1923 is scary stuff. The fever broke, but the disease remained. In time, the Nazis reorganized and Germany’s patriots stood by to provide cover to purge the enemies at home: the democrat, the socialist, the Jew. It was a homespun crusade that destroyed all law and overturned all order. Jones’s book asks where we are today—at the end of the troubles, or at the beginning?”
 

“1923 is a gripping account of interwar Germany's annus horribilis—the year when French invasion, hyperinflation, and Hitler's ‘Beer Hall Putsch’ shook the young republic. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, Jones’s story of a democracy under terrible pressure is a warning for our times.”
 

"What sets this book apart from other titles on the subject is the author’s focus on regional political and economic differences within Germany and his research on the early deportations of Jews from Bavaria and the consequent impact. A relevant title for readers of world history."
 

“Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material, Jones takes us deep into the crisis year of 1923. His fascinating insights into the emotions and experiences of people whose lives were touched by it shows powerfully that there was nothing inevitable about the survival of Germany’s young democracy in 1923—nor about its death a decade later. As modern democracies today once again face existential challenges, Jones’s book is a timely reminder it is within our hands whether we fight to uphold them or allow them to collapse.”
 

“A crisp and methodical chronicle of the year Germany went wrong. Jones traces the eruption in a deftly detailed and convincing narrative. His vivid history of Germany in 1923 is a timely alert to the dangers of repetition.”
 

“A hundred years on, the profound crisis of 1923 seems uncomfortably similar to the challenges experienced by many democracies today: the rise of political extremism, runaway inflation, and resistance to foreign occupation are back in the news, but they are certainly not new. Jones’ meticulously researched and splendidly written book brings this dark but forgotten year back to life.”
 

“Meticulously researched and elegantly written, 1923 explains how Germany stood on the brink of chaos in that crisis year and then stepped back. Highly recommended.”
 

“1923 is a masterful interpretation of a fateful year in German history. It does much to place the watershed moment ascribed to Hitler’s assumption of power in 1933 in its correct context. Clearly if democracy is not respected and protected, history teaches us, you lose it.”