Customer Reviews

Frederick the Great: The Magnificent Enigma

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a sparkling book which reveals much about the life and times of a man about which too little is known in our age. Frederick the Great (King of Prussian 1740-1786) militarily united much of the Protestant northern Germany under one crown--the Prussian crown. He did so while supporting the enlightenment idea of toleration of religious differences, at least in theory, and with the goal of making Prussia a major power in central Europe.

Frederick anticipated Napoleon by re-introducing the strategy of the attack to military theory. He laid much of the groundwork for the diplomacy of Bismarck which a hundred years later sould see Frederick's great grand-nephew, William I (reigned 1861-1888) crowned German Emperor in 1871.

Frederick was certainly an genius in some areas of his life. However, as this book points out, he inherited a lot of the tools that he would need for success during his reign from his father, King Frederick William I (reigned 1713-1740). For instance, the army that Frederck the Great used so devastatingly in the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Seven Years War (1756-1763), had been painstakingly built by his father.

Additionally, he inherited a close diplomatic reationship with the British crown from his mother, Sophie Dorothea of Hanover. Sophia Dorothea was the daughter of George I and brother of George II of England. Assured of English neutrality Frederick could have a free hand to deal with Austria during the Seven Years War of 1756-1763.

Asprey writes in a way that is entertaining and still relates a good deal on information to the reader. Because of this, his work on Frederick the Great is a welcome addition to anyone's library.

Robert Asprey's life of Frederick The Great was a fascinating read. The author's understanding of his subject makes Frederick come to life. One can understand the forces that created the man, his strengths and weaknesses.

Asprey also provides a clear view of Europe in Frederick's times. The constant conflicts between its nations is difficult to understand from the perspective of the modern reader. In our times Europe has been at peace for more than 50 years (despite the conflagration in the Balkans) yet in Frederick's time the great nations could not stop warring with each other.

Most fascinating in this book, however, is the suspense filled descriptions of Frederick's major battles and the masterful way the king manuevered through the 7 year war. This was very exciting reading. It also provided insights as to how an inferior force can prevail against what appeared to be overwhelming odds.

This book may be out of print, but it certainly is not out of style. Mr. Asprey does try to maintian a degree of objectivity throughout the book, but he doesn't always succeed. Nevertheless, this book shines with in depth research of nearly every aspect of the life, politics, loves, and military considerations of Frederick the Great throughout his reign. There is a near 100 page bibliography in the back, replete with sources for further reading. The way the author wove the story of Frederick of Prussia was masterful in holding my attention as well as making me more interested in period politics of the era. What a fascinating era in European development. What a fascinating human being Frederick the Great was. A true humanist philospher king forced to embark upon a war of expansion to ensure his country would be able to dictate it's own course in the near future of Europe (through Germany as he envisioned it) and beyond. A truly cruel and engimatic circumstance to be trapped in as an enlightened human being during the mid 18th century. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I emphatically recommend it to anyone interested in this period of European history. Good coverage of historically significant battles with terrain maps and battle line progression provided as well.

Asprey is one of my favorite historians for his writing style alone. The book moves along, yet leaves nothing out. The descriptions of the battles are written in such a fluid, lucid style that few have achieved. If you want to know every move some particular regiment made in the battle, you won't find that here. This is a general bio of Frederick and not concerned solely with his battles. But Asprey does manage to convey the ebb and flow of the battles through a very direct, almost telegraphic at times, way of writing.

A great introduction to all aspects of Fredericks life.

Robert B. Asprey's writing style is contemporary and easy to read, a little better than that of David Fraser, the other author of a recent biography of Frederick the Great. Both books have about 700 pages, with maps, footnotes, bibliography, and index. Fraser has a genealogy tree, but Asprey's maps are better, especially his battle maps. Fraser's photos are glossy plates; Asprey's are printed. I preferred Asprey's book over Fraser's because of Asprey's writing style and because Fraser leaves many of Frederick's quotes in untranslated French.

Is Frederick's biography worth reading? Yes. He is important in the development of military science and the creation of Germany. He also demonstrated that skill can prove superior to numbers and that the smaller country doesn't always lose. Whether his occupation of Silesia was worth twenty years of desolating war is uncertain. The story, however, of Frederick's twelve victories and only two losses while leading little Prussia in battles against giant Russia, France, and Austria (including the Holy Roman Empire) is suspenseful and worth the journey. There came a time when the giants were about to stomp the little guy into oblivion, but something like a deus ex machina happened and Prussia survived.

Besides war, Asprey includes much other information: childhood, friends, politics, and health. When Frederick tries to run away, a friend who tries to help is beheaded. Frederick's father forces Frederick to watch. Later Frederick is forced to marry an unattractive woman. As an enlightened king, he reads, writes, plays and composes music, and philosophizes with Voltaire.

I subtract a star from Asprey for two reasons. The reason of lesser importance concerns the book's index, which lists all names, but still has a shortcoming. Sometimes I would read a name in the text and forget what country the person represents. Every name in the index should be followed immediately by two facts: 1) the date of the person's birth and 2) the country they represent. (A person's age helps me to understand a person's character.) But this fault alone is not worth subtracting a whole star.

The more important reason for subtracting a star has to do with the lack of maps. Asprey's battle maps are fine, though with more of them he could have illustrated a better understanding of the step-by-step progress of each battle. And he could have included at least some of the names of the commanders. The bad thing is that the text notes a horde of locations, many of which are not on any of the book's maps. Therefore Asprey should have included more maps.

Frequently, however, even when a location was on one of the book's maps, I had trouble finding the location. Either I didn't know which map to refer to, or I had trouble finding the location even when I had the right map. Therefore, every map--excluding the battle maps--should have a number-letter grid. Additionally the book should have one comprehensive index for all the locations shown on all the maps, including the battle maps. The index should refer readers to the page(s) of the map(s) that have the location. For the non-battle locations, each index entry should also note the number and letter of the grid that contains the location.

Mr. Asprey presents a very interesting account of Frederick the Great in this biography. I think that he does much to establish Frederick as a pivotal player in Prussia's transition from backwater ("the sandbox of Europe") to a major European state (and later, to the driving force behind German unification). I particularly enjoyed the discussion of Frederick's long-term (and complex) relationship with Voltaire, and how Frederick was very much a product of the Enlightenment. For instance, Frederick sought to hash out a functional govt. administration (excuse the oxymoron) from what had been a largely disjointed, semi-feudal state. Moreover, he extended a relatively high degree of tolerance to Prussia's religious minorities (though, with respect to Jews, it was limited to those who were seen as useful to economic development). Finally, Frederick sought to enhance the cultural life of what had essentially been a military garrison state. To that effect, he introduced a semblance of high culture to Prussia.

Mr. Asprey devotes a lot of attention to Frederick's many wars with his neighbors. These wars were very important to the development of Prussia as a major European state. Also, Frederick often put himself in harm's way in commanding his troops. This was in marked contrast to many of the pampered absolutists who were in power in much of Europe at this time. I think that it illustrates Frederick's sincere belief that he was "First Servant of the Prussian State" as opposed to a divinely elected ruler.

I found this a readable and useful overview of Frederick and his times.

The author begins the book with an introduction listing what has and what has not happened in history as of the birth of Frederick the Great: the modern notions of freedom scarcely existed, and "[the] world largely belonged to emperors, kings, nobles, and priests. They made war as they made love: Scarcely one affair ended before another began." This backdrop is helpful in understanding Frederick's behavior that might to modern eyes seem cold-blooded, if not vicious. In the context of eighteenth century European politics, his behavior looks more reasonable.

The author next takes us to another insight into his later behavior: his brutal upbringing. His father seemed unable to comprehend his son and could think of little other than brutality and inflexibility to instill proper virtues in his heir.

The book shifts into higher gear as Frederick ascends the throne and promptly goes to war with Austria. The campaigns are gone through in a fairly brisk fashion (though I would have liked more campaign maps, the battle maps are sufficient), but anyone looking for a blow-by-blow of Frederick's wars or battles should look elsewhere for deep details. There is enough detail to make me question the military genius so often ascribed to Frederick: his campaigns often foundered due to overreach, poor logistics, and military methods (irregulars) that Frederick poorly understood. He may have been better than most of his opponents, but there was plenty of room for improvement.

One key attribute of the book is that the author generally refrains from much comment on the goings on: he generally sticks to the facts themselves. While sometimes this approach might leave a reader confused as to the meaning of, for example, a contemporary's quote, I was able to follow the story easily enough. If nothing else, the reader is left with the impression that the author did not have an obvious axe to grind about Frederick. He was a remarkable combination of cultural enlightenment and military ruthlessness.

Loved this book. Finished it in 85 days. But then again, I'm really into history and personalities. I like to get to know someone personally in biographies as well as get enlightened on the time period. A casual reader who doesn't want to get deep, and isn't prepared to look at maps closely, and do side research on the little things of history that Asprey quickly mentions... then this book isn't for you. If you're trying to really deeply understand what went on in Frederick's life, then this book is for you. I doubt that anyone without a deep interest in Frederick and history would enjoy this book.

If you don't consider yourself an intellectual, and don't want to get bogged down with big words and close up details; then I might suggest just reading Frederick's wikipedia page. (...)
I would also suggest photo copying the maps provided with the book and having them printed out on separate sheets of paper for reference while you read. I was CONSTANTLY referring to these maps in order to keep a better idea of the movements of armies as well as just places in general. It wasn't ery often when I needed anything else besides the maps provided. But it definitely would of been awful having to turn again and again back to the map page.

I admit not having read more than the introduction followed by twenty-five pages. Almost to my "surrender", the subject is the childhood of Frederick II and his relationship to his predecessors, his father especially. The presentation is highly promising for its clarity and wry humor. My disappointment was a fall from that expectation when the author began his narrative about the intrigues of Frederick William I's court vis a vis the Emperor and the British Crown. The details of Count Seckendorf's manipulations, those of the members of the Court and young Crown Prince himself are offered so laboriously that a simple chronology would have been more enlightening. I decided that the author's engaging skill in describing personalities was not balanced with a similar skill in describing the history.