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teravannoy's review against another edition
2.0
Overall an okay book about the history of Prussia. It was a bit dry. I used this book to help me fall asleep at night. In that, this book did its job, but I had to skim over several sections throughout the book just to get through it.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
The Kingdom of Prussia has been so thoroughly obliterated from the history books, Clark's book is a welcome reminder to Germanophiles like me.
Beginning in the ashes of the 30 Years War, Clark shows the way competent kings and an effective bureaucracy elevated both the Prussian military and the country's education system to among the finest in Europe. The devastation wrought by Napoleon's invasion served the kingdom, spurring all of Germany towards unification under the Prussian umbrella by 1870.
Clark traces the kingdom's path through the end of the monarchy/empire following World War I--this was the first source I had read which called Germany's overthrow of the Kaiser, a "revolution." He shows how the Weimar Republic raced against time and the strong conservative interests in Prussia to reform the police and judiciary. And Clark takes on the mythology of Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg, showing how he elevated himself to the detriment and destruction of the kingdom he tried so hard to exemplify.
This was a longer read than I would have preferred, but I learned new elements of German history in every chapter. I'm glad I read all the way through to the end.
Beginning in the ashes of the 30 Years War, Clark shows the way competent kings and an effective bureaucracy elevated both the Prussian military and the country's education system to among the finest in Europe. The devastation wrought by Napoleon's invasion served the kingdom, spurring all of Germany towards unification under the Prussian umbrella by 1870.
Clark traces the kingdom's path through the end of the monarchy/empire following World War I--this was the first source I had read which called Germany's overthrow of the Kaiser, a "revolution." He shows how the Weimar Republic raced against time and the strong conservative interests in Prussia to reform the police and judiciary. And Clark takes on the mythology of Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg, showing how he elevated himself to the detriment and destruction of the kingdom he tried so hard to exemplify.
This was a longer read than I would have preferred, but I learned new elements of German history in every chapter. I'm glad I read all the way through to the end.
michaelcox12's review against another edition
3.0
As a fan of dense historical reads, after visiting Klaipeda this year I really wanted to enjoy a deep dive into Prussian history. While this book provided a fairly comprehensive review of this power, it never quite gripped me with its story-telling. It jumps around the timeline quite a bit and spends large sections describing the culture and social aspects without tying them into an overall story as well as I would like as a reader.
The entire time you know where this is heading, to the world wars and the Nazi regime, but the post-unification section is disappointingly short and is written mostly to try and separate this period from the previous 300 years. I found the period from 1600-1830 to be the most interesting in understanding Prussian culture and the unique spot they found themselves in Europe during this time period.
The entire time you know where this is heading, to the world wars and the Nazi regime, but the post-unification section is disappointingly short and is written mostly to try and separate this period from the previous 300 years. I found the period from 1600-1830 to be the most interesting in understanding Prussian culture and the unique spot they found themselves in Europe during this time period.
jmtaylor1981's review against another edition
3.0
This is a dense read with a whole lot of history. A good read for anyone interested in a general history of Prussia and German. This book is definitely something that will spark your interest in more detailed areas of Prussian history.