Scan barcode
A review by zmb
Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 by Christopher Clark
4.0
A pretty great modern and critical history of Prussia, quite critical of the historical narratives of the past but always willing to explain them. The Prussia I knew was the militaristic Prussia of the Great Elector, of Frederick William I, of the Great Frederick, and of Bismarck; this history talks about them extensively, but also about the Baroque Frederick I, the Prussian Aufklarung, the great reformers under Frederick William III, the romantic Frederick William IV and the revolutions of 1848.
My one criticism is that, after a lot of stage setting of non-political history, the political narrative becomes dominant roughly around Frederick II. I would have liked more exploration into /why/ the Great Frederick's Prussia was so much more powerful than the Great Elector's, and Bismarck's more powerful yet - a little more industrial history would have been welcome. It's also worth noting that the history post-1870 is not a history of the newly unified Germany, but instead of Prussia-in-Germany and will probably be somewhat difficult to follow for those not familiar with the pre-WWII history of the unified Germany.
My one criticism is that, after a lot of stage setting of non-political history, the political narrative becomes dominant roughly around Frederick II. I would have liked more exploration into /why/ the Great Frederick's Prussia was so much more powerful than the Great Elector's, and Bismarck's more powerful yet - a little more industrial history would have been welcome. It's also worth noting that the history post-1870 is not a history of the newly unified Germany, but instead of Prussia-in-Germany and will probably be somewhat difficult to follow for those not familiar with the pre-WWII history of the unified Germany.