I’m reading one of my favorite biographies, An Uncommon Woman, about the Empress Frederick of Germany, Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and mother of the notorious Kaiser Wilhelm II. And it goes into the history of Prussia, and about the Electors of Germany, the early German Empire, and such.
I’m interested to see what other books are out there, and if there are any on the Empress’s husband, the short-lived Frederick III (he only reigned for three months due to cancer of the larnyx.)
I haven’t read any on the royal family, but The Arms of Krupp is a very interesting read, and gives a lot of insight into the politics and the personalities of Prussia.
If you can find it, check out Walter Henry Nelson’s “The Soldier Kings”. It’s from the '70s, and is a history of the family.
For Frederick III, check out “Frederick III:Germany’s Liberal Emperor” by Patricia Kollander, which is more of a look at Frederick’s ideas than it is his biography; how his liberalism developed and to what extent he really was a liberal.
Not a novel, but check out Hitler Speaks, by Hermann Rauschning, which recounts, among other things, the political pressure Hitler came under to “restore the Hohenzollern.”
I just recently finished Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 by Christopher Clark ( 2006, Harvard University Press ). As the title suggests it is not exactly about the Hohenzollern per se ( given the time period covered it obviously gives only the very briefest overview on their origins in Swabia, etc. ), but rather the development of the Prussian state.
Still the two are inextricably linked for most of their respective histories and this is probably the most modern synthesis on Prussia you’re going to find in English. I thought it was pretty solid overall.
I’m currently reading King, Kaiser, Tsar by Catrine Clay. Its about the relationships between George V of England, Willhelm II of Prussia/Germany and Nicholas II of Russia. I’m not too far into the book, but it talks about how their lives overlapped, and how their family relations had an effect on shaping the world.
I just finished that, and that is indeed a good one.
Thank you for the suggestions-I’ll have to try and find them. A while back, I read a book on Germany between the two Wars, and the Weimar Republic, and how it was doomed to failure.
Wasn’t there also a book titled “The Year of the Three Kaisers/Emperors?”