Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859-1900 [Hardcover]

LaMar Cecil (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Callous, vain, easily bored and exceedingly foolish, Wilhelm II, the last German kaiser, was an isolated narcissist who preferred hunting or yachting on Norway's fjords to affairs of state. His tendency to make momentous policy decisions on the basis of vanity or personal pique alarmed his chief servant, Bismarck, and successive chancellors who were forced to operate within the kaiser's erratic whims. An anti-Semite who was highly suspicious of Catholics and hated socialists and radicals, Wilhelm disliked his mother, finding her Anglomania intolerable, and fought with his father, the Crown Prince. In this enlightening and disturbing portrait--the first half of a two-volume biography--Cecil, history professor at Washington and Lee University, carries the story through Wilhelm's obsessive rivalry with England, a country the kaiser criticized for its colonist ambitions even as he instigated a massive build-up of Germany's army and navy. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Though a long-time favorite of royal biographers, Germany's last emperor has remained one of history's caricatures. In this first of two volumes, however, historian Cecil brings life to Wilhelm in what will undoubtedly be considered the best biography of the emperor to date. The product of exhaustive research, the work traces Wilhelm's formative years and his ascent to power in the heyday of imperial Germany. The emphasis is clearly on politics, and much of the narrative analyzes the innumerable difficulties German leaders encountered in trying to govern under such a volatile sovereign. Cecil's treatment of Wilhelm's personal life is equally balanced and informative, particularly in those sections dealing with his insensitive relations with his parents and his close association with his legendary grandfather, Wilhelm I. A superior work suitable for all libraries.
- Joseph W. Constance Jr., Boston Coll. Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 463 pages
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press; 1St Edition edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807818283
• ISBN-13: 978-0807818282
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,126,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dry Reading on the Kaiser, May 15, 2009

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OlingerStories - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859-1900 (Hardcover)

Perhaps I'm being too hard on Cecil's massive first volume biography of
Kaiser Wilhelm II, but his writing is stiff and the information becomes rather repetitive. The combination creates an academic tone where documentation and factual straightness trumps flow.

As for the Kaiser himself, he seemingly gives definition to the
phrase "cold Calvinist." Pious and yet heartless, faithful to his
wife and yet indifferent to her at the same time, fanatical about military operations and yet an physically handcapped himself, Cecil does capture how eccentric Germany's last king was.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good first volume on Wilhelm, July 4, 2007

By 

S. J. Snyder "De gustibus non disputandum" (Various, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859-1900 (Hardcover)

Sometimes psychologizing great players in history is a waste of time, or worse; with Wilhelm it's part of the territory.

Wilhelm's relations with his mother over her Anglophilia, etc., would largely appear to stem from his childhood and the treatments for his withered left arm, contrasted with the hagiography for his grandfather, Wilhelm I, vs. the younger Wilhelm's liberalizing father, Friedrich.

Cecil doesn't break any new ground here, but does have a little more detail of Wilhelm's childhood than a one-volume biography would.

Where he does have more depth, not just detail, is how this affected his relations with Great Britain when he was Kaiser, and how he personalized his problems here through deliberate affronts to people such as Edward, Prince of Wales, and Prime Minister Saulsbury.

Cecil also goes into details on Wilhelm's relations with his government ministers, and especially his chancellors, and how they attempted to "handle" him.

I haven't read Volume 2, but have my appetite whetted.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hostile biography, April 21, 2006

By 

Truth Seeker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilhelm II: Prince and Emperor, 1859-1900 (Hardcover)

Wilhelm II, Prince and Emperor 1859-1900, was a hostile biography. This is the first of a 2 volume series, so it ends in 1900 even though Wilhelm lived in exile in Holland until 1941.

[The sequel is: Wilhelm II: Emperor and Exile, 1900-1941 (Cecil, Lamar) Publisher: University of North Carolina Press (October 1996) ISBN: 0807822833]

We are led to believe that Wilhelm II was a bizarre and incapable sovereign because he didn't work hard, wasn't a good listener, was isolated from outside influences, picked associates for their loyalty, and thought that the government should be composed only of those who agreed with him. Isn't this a universal set of attributes for all government leaders? We could have assumed all of the above, and then gone looking for differences that set our subject apart from the pack.

Wilhelm II considered socialists or radicals "to be criminals unworthy of his grace and favor." My guess is that the author has leftist or Anglophile leanings which were the basis for his criticisms of Wilhelm II.

Wilhelm II was manly and robust, spoke frequently of religious manners, and was polite and friendly as well as very civil in social matters. Naturally, all of this would be unacceptable to a leftist.

The author faults Wilhelm for being callous in his emotions, and further castigates him for not having a more compassionate feeling about his subjects-but then he also blasts him for allowing momentary impulses and personal feelings to govern his actions. So, which is it?

Kaiser Wilhelm II planned to ameliorate the condition of the working class, both as a religious duty and as a bulwark against socialism. He correctly perceived that socialist dogmas were incompatible with Christian ethics and impractical in execution and ruinous to both individuals and society. And this guy is "foolish"?

Industrialists were dedicated solely to maximizing profits, and exhibited no concern for the working class. Wilhelm wanted a mutually advantageous relationship between employer and worker. Wilhelm was convinced that if management did not make timely concessions, violence and socialism would result. He wanted to use the power of the crown to protect workers against unscrupulous employers. He was sympathetic to the eight-hour day. The progressive Wilhelm II wanted abolition of Sunday work unless absolutely necessary, no night employment for women and children, no work by women in the last 3 weeks of pregnancy and for a similar period after delivery, a pause in the workday for women to accomplish their domestic chores, and limitation of labor by children under fourteen.

Compared with those of similar position, Wilhelm II was a benevolent and farsighted ruler. This was a very good book. Perhaps the author should read it.