Overview

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.

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9781107565968

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Reviews

Review of the hardback: 'It is a masterpiece ... enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times Review of the hardback: 'Roehl's biography is a stunning achievement by any yardstick, a definitive work which breaks new ground.' The Times Higher Education Supplement Review of the hardback: '... the definitive biography of Germany's last Emperor. No other scholar has Roehl's command of the sources or his deep commitment to understanding Wilhelm's place in history'. James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement Review of the hardback: '... a masterpiece ... shows just how compelling and how readable academic history can be.' Charlotte Zeepvat, Royalty Digest Review of the hardback: '... Roehl tells a morbidly fascinating story will skill and impeccable scholarship.' The Court Historian Review of the hardback: '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 Review of the hardback: 'It is unlikely that another biography of Wilhelm II will ever surpass the level of detail or the depth of archival knowledge Roehl has achieved.' Isabel V. Hull, Journal of Modern History

Review of the hardback: 'It is a masterpiece ... enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times Review of the hardback: 'Roehl's biography is a stunning achievement by any yardstick, a definitive work which breaks new ground.' The Times Higher Education Supplement Review of the hardback: '... the definitive biography of Germany's last Emperor. No other scholar has Roehl's command of the sources or his deep commitment to understanding Wilhelm's place in history'. James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement Review of the hardback: '... a masterpiece ... shows just how compelling and how readable academic history can be.' Charlotte Zeepvat, Royalty Digest Review of the hardback: '... Roehl tells a morbidly fascinating story will skill and impeccable scholarship.' The Court Historian Review of the hardback: '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 Review of the hardback: 'It is unlikely that another biography of Wilhelm II will ever surpass the level of detail or the depth of archival knowledge Roehl has achieved.' Isabel V. Hull, Journal of Modern History ...historical biography at its best, and simply not to be missed. -Blaine Taylor

Review of the hardback: 'It is a masterpiece ... enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times Review of the hardback: 'Rohl's biography is a stunning achievement by any yardstick, a definitive work which breaks new ground.' The Times Higher Education Supplement Review of the hardback: '... the definitive biography of Germany's last Emperor. No other scholar has Rohl's command of the sources or his deep commitment to understanding Wilhelm's place in history'. James J. Sheehan, The Times Literary Supplement Review of the hardback: '... a masterpiece ... shows just how compelling and how readable academic history can be.' Charlotte Zeepvat, Royalty Digest Review of the hardback: '... Rohl tells a morbidly fascinating story will skill and impeccable scholarship.' The Court Historian Review of the hardback: '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 Review of the hardback: 'It is unlikely that another biography of Wilhelm II will ever surpass the level of detail or the depth of archival knowledge Rohl has achieved.' Isabel V. Hull, Journal of Modern History

'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 Rohl'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 Rohl 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

Author Information

John C. G. Röhl is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Sussex. His many previous publications include The Kaiser and his Court (1994) which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize as well as the two other volumes of his biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II – Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888–1900 (Cambridge, 2004), which have won the Einhard Prize for the biography of a major European figure in 2012, and Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941 (2014).

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