"Norbert Schurer's new cultural city guide points out iconic features but he also ventures into quirkier territory. The perspective of a West Berliner, an observer who knows the city intimately suffuses his Berlin Sociological sections of the book benefit most from the depth of Schurer's relationship with the city. He writes compellingly about the living conditions of first-generation Turkish Gastarbeiter in West Berlin and their Vietnamese counterpart in the East The book's best chapter, on Berlin's 'dark side,' treats not only the Nazi era, but also an unexpected combination of other 'dark' topics, from street prostitution to famous criminals of Berlin history to the current and projected effects of climate change on the city Schurer's refreshing disregard for hipness sets his account apart from most others written in English. What the book does offer is a richly textured and idiosyncratic take on the city of Schurer's childhood, as if the reader were surveying Berlin in the company of a friend who grew up there." — Times Literary Supplement