Four German Stories is a reader of short stories by German and Austrian writers written from postwar to contemporary times. The stories are arranged in order of increasing complexity for vocabulary, syntax, style, topic and approach. The text is structured to be of use for English speaking students learning German and includes footnotes for difficult or idiomatic phrases, an extensive glossary for most words found in the stories, and pre-and post-reading discussion questions.

Thousands of years ago, seafront clans in Denmark began speaking the earliest form of Germanic language--the first of six "signal events" that Ruth Sanders highlights in this marvelous history of the German language.

Blending linguistic, anthropological, and historical research, Sanders presents a brilliant biography of the language as it evolved across the millennia. She sheds light on the influence of such events as the bloody three-day Battle of Kalkriese, which permanently halted the incursion of both the Romans and the Latin language into northern Europe, and the publication of...