Customer Reviews

History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick The Great (1858-65)

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As the books run through, page by page, volume by volume, I am so taken by the author's thorough, rich and comprehenseive knowledge of the history of 18th-Century, militarily, politically, diplomatically and geographically. The author sets the whole stage of European history of that century in front of readers. The power and strength lie in this titanic biography, which turns out to consist of six volumes which totaling more than three thousand pages long, is not only on its sweeping and extensive knowledge of the history in detail, but also on the fact that the author possesses a vast, wide and precious first-hand materials of the King's age, which range from newpapers to memoirs, from documents to correspondences. This is really a comprehensive accounts about this great King in every field, in every turn of history : His stern, unhappy and strict self-trained youth which is astoundingly different from any princes in history, his tremendous merits in military which ranked him to the transcendent generals of the world, his remarkable achievements in domestic reform and reconstruction which hailed him as a great ruler in 18th- Century, his grand attainments in diplomacy which made him known as a prominent diplomat of his time, and his sensational accomplishment in literature which enlisted him as an extraordinarily intellectual prince and man of letters in his century. The author reveals many excellent personalities and qualities of Frederick the Great which will hardly not enormously increase your admiration for this great King: His generosity, his humanity, his unselfishness, his toleraion, his modest, his self-discipline, his standard of morality, his delicacy taste, his hard woking, his steel-iron nerve, his indefatigable will, his exceptional equanimity when facing danger, his talent, his prodigious memory, his arts of conversation, his unfailing enegy and strength, his charming wisdom, his extensive appetite for knowledge, and his impeccable private life. Unlike other authors who write history of their subjects, this author blends his own feeling into his writing with his whole sympathy tipping to his hero and unlimited admiration for the King. You can feel the author loves his hero too profoundly and too much not to defend the King, defend his reputation, defend his honor : He spoke for the King for his shortly running away from the battle field due to his generals constant begging for his leave when the battle was heavily clouded; He refuted the rumor that the King had homosexual liaison by giving the powerful evidence that the King was so noble and so proud of himself that he strongly loathed his body be exposed to any person, even when he was void of consciousness because of being wounded in the battle; and so on. The author also fills his book with many amazing and interesting anecdotes of the King[.] .... Overall, with my whole heart, I highly recommend this book which is really one of the best biographies about Frederick the Great, who is one of the greatest, the most extraordinary and influential histoical figures in the world, which is full of valuable and interesting historical sources.

There is no more comprehensive study in English of the life of Frederick II of Prussia. Carlyle spent over 15 years researching and writing this work during the mid-19th Century, and it pays off for the reader in the form of an absolute bonanza of details about arguably the most influential European prince of the 18th Century.

The strength of the work lies in the fact that no detail is too small to be excluded. Whether it is the three pages Carlyle devotes to Frederick's initiation into the Freemasons or the volumes devoted to his conduct during the Seven Year's War, if Carlyle doesn't describe it, one is left with the feeling that it probably didn't happen. Carlyle doesn't even let you at the subject of the work for the first 250 pages or so while he sets the stage for Frederick's life.

The biggest weaknesses of the work are the labored, Dickensian prose, and its length. This is not a piece that many readers will get through in a matter of weeks-- this reader needed two years to make it through a casual reading. Frederick fans may like the favorable treatment of the subject in general, but some of the praise heaped on Frederick does seem a bit much at times. Carlyle also tends to see issues in black and white, and seems hard pressed to refrain from ridiculing some of Frederick's contemporaries.

Overall, this book is an invaluable resource to those interested in Frederick II, and practically eliminates the need for the armchair historian who wishes to know more about the man and his times to brush up on his or her French and German.