This rich and compelling volume describes the life of Kaiser Wilhelm II from his birth in 1859 to his accession to the Prusso-German throne in 1888, a story so extraordinary that it will fascinate anyone interested in the psychology and the throng of personalities of the period. Its aim is to set the characters on the stage and let them speak for themselves, which in their letters and diaries the Victorians and Wilhelminians did with quite extraordinary clarity and persuasive power. The central theme is the bitter conflict between the handicapped Prince and his liberal parents, and in particular with his mother, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and the utter failure of a daring educational experiment intended to turn the young Prince into a liberal Anglophile.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'It is a masterpiece ... enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times 'Rohl's biography is a stunning achievement by any yardstick, a definitive work which breaks new ground.' The Times Higher Education Supplement
'... gracefully written, compulsively readable.' James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement ' ... the definitive biography of Germany's last Emperor. No other scholar has Röhl's command of the sources or his deep commitment to understanding Wilhelm's place in history'. James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement
'... a masterpiece ... shows just how compelling and how readable academic history can be.' Charlotte Zeepvat, Royalty Digest '... Rohl tells a morbidly fascinating story will skill and impeccable scholarship.' The Court Historian
'The morbid charm of Europe's high nobility has evidently cast its spell over the author. Not only their love affairs but also their illnesses exert a quite irresistible attraction ... His account of the Crown Prince's fatal illness of cancer of the larynx, which dominates the last 200 pages of the book ... must be the most exact medical record ever written by a historian.' Volker Ulrich, Die Zeit
'It is unlikely that another biography of Wilhelm II will ever surpass the level of detail or the depth of archival knowledge Röhl has achieved.' Isabel V. Hull, Journal of Modern History
'John Rohl's work has grown far beyond the compass of a biography, and comes close to becoming the portrait of an epoch.' Wolf Jobst Siedler, Tagesspiegel, Berlin
'John Rohl's account ... contains some of the most monstrous material of modern history. And since the details of this material are for the most part new, brought to light after years of research in previously closed archives, its publication must be regarded as an important event in historical scholarship.' Gustav Seibt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
'... gracefully written, compulsively readable.' James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement ' ... the definitive biography of Germany's last Emperor. No other scholar has Röhl's command of the sources or his deep commitment to understanding Wilhelm's place in history'. James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement
'... a masterpiece ... shows just how compelling and how readable academic history can be.' Charlotte Zeepvat, Royalty Digest '... Rohl tells a morbidly fascinating story will skill and impeccable scholarship.' The Court Historian
'The morbid charm of Europe's high nobility has evidently cast its spell over the author. Not only their love affairs but also their illnesses exert a quite irresistible attraction ... His account of the Crown Prince's fatal illness of cancer of the larynx, which dominates the last 200 pages of the book ... must be the most exact medical record ever written by a historian.' Volker Ulrich, Die Zeit
'It is unlikely that another biography of Wilhelm II will ever surpass the level of detail or the depth of archival knowledge Röhl has achieved.' Isabel V. Hull, Journal of Modern History
'John Rohl's work has grown far beyond the compass of a biography, and comes close to becoming the portrait of an epoch.' Wolf Jobst Siedler, Tagesspiegel, Berlin
'John Rohl's account ... contains some of the most monstrous material of modern history. And since the details of this material are for the most part new, brought to light after years of research in previously closed archives, its publication must be regarded as an important event in historical scholarship.' Gustav Seibt, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German
Original Language: German
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
SHORTLY after 3 p.m. on 27 January 1859, at the Kronprinzenpalais on Berlin's Unter den Linden, the newly-born baby was carefully inspected by the British ambassador, Baron Bloomfield, and the Prussian Minister of the Royal House, Ludwig von Massow. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prince Wilhelm, Herbert Bismarck, Queen Victoria, Royal Highness, Foreign Office, Reich Chancellor, San Remo, Friedrich Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm, German Reich, Prince of Wales, Prince Bismarck, Prince Heinrich, Kaiserin Augusta, City Mission, German Kaiser, Elisabeth Wedel, Frederick the Great, Prince of Bulgaria, Kaiser Friedrich, Prince Albert, Union Club, Head of the Military Cabinet, Lord Salisbury, Sir James New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
SHORTLY after 3 p.m. on 27 January 1859, at the Kronprinzenpalais on Berlin's Unter den Linden, the newly-born baby was carefully inspected by the British ambassador, Baron Bloomfield, and the Prussian Minister of the Royal House, Ludwig von Massow. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prince Wilhelm, Herbert Bismarck, Queen Victoria, Royal Highness, Foreign Office, Reich Chancellor, San Remo, Friedrich Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm, German Reich, Prince of Wales, Prince Bismarck, Prince Heinrich, Kaiserin Augusta, City Mission, German Kaiser, Elisabeth Wedel, Frederick the Great, Prince of Bulgaria, Kaiser Friedrich, Prince Albert, Union Club, Head of the Military Cabinet, Lord Salisbury, Sir James New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 18
books:
See all 18 books this book cites
- An Uncommon Woman - The Empress Frederick: Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm by Hannah Pakula in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Education of the Senses: The Bourgeois Experience, Victoria to Freud, Volume 1 by Peter Gay in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Man and war by Plinio Prioreschi in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Ask Sir James by Michael Reid in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- History of the Balkans, Vol. 1: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Joint Committee on Eastern Europe Publication Series) by Barbara Jelavich in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 18 books this book cites
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