Norbert Elias was Professor Emeritus at the University of Frankfurt until his death in 1990.

"Invariably illuminating." Times Literary Supplement "Once in a while a book emerges which far surpasses in scope and scale and depth even the best of our worthy scholarship ... this last collection of Norbert Elias's could not be more timely. This is a civil book. To read it civilises. One might recommend it to the survivors of Mrs Thatcher's seminar." Political Quarterly "His academic approach is both fascinating and challenging and his book must be rated as an extremely valuable contribution to the debate about German political traditions." German Politics "This study is particularly brilliant, even for the great Elias. Here he returns to the shame analysis that he began in The Civilizing Process, clarifying great swaths of German and European cultural history. A must for your reading list." Thomas J. Scheff, University of California, Santa Barbara"Undoubtedly, this is one of the most original sociological minds ever, and The Germans is his magnum opus. One might expect a great book, and a great book this is." Zygmunt Bauman, University of Leeds

• Preface by Eric Dunning and Stephen Mennell. Introduction.1. Civilization and Informalization.2. A Digression on Nationalism.3. Civilization and Violence: On the State Monopoly of Physical Violence and its Transgression.4. The Breakdown of Civilization.5. Thoughts on the Federal Republic.Editorial Postscript by Michael Schröter.Notes.Index.