Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947

I am finally finished! I've been wanting to read this book for awhile and I'm glad I did.

The book is relatively broad in scope. It is not the history of the Hohenzollern family but rather what was happening in Prussia from 1600 to 1947. So you obviously see a lot of monarchial history (such as the biographies of the various Electors of Brandenburg, Kings in Prussia and Kings of Prussia) but also religious history, social history and some military history. For a book on Prussia you would think military history would be a bigger topic but he seemed more interested in social history such as talking about the Jewish community of Prussia. I noticed (perhaps due to my personal biases) that after the Napoleonic Wars monarchial history tends to take backstage to the affairs of Minister-Presidents and Chancellors. As a result information on Friedrich Wilhelm IV, Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II is a lot shorter than what Friedrich Wilhelm, Friedrich Wilhelm I and Friedrich II got. I wasn't a huge fan of his post-WW1 writing and it definitely seems that his higher quality writing was before WW1. Nonetheless every chapter was good and worthy of reading. There was also a lack of historiography and I really only noticed a couple overt mentions to other historians in the field. Nonetheless, I would recommend to anyone with an interest in German or European history.

Very interesting. For those that may not as have been as knowledgeable of Prussian history, this would be as good a place to start as any. I would say that that incudes me. I was not particularly aware of German history prior to WW2 until recent times and after reading a few books on subjects such as the reformation and the 30 Year War there is some very interesting reading to be had. This history of Prussia adds to that.

The rise of a nation called Prussia, from a backwater called Brandenburg to the mighty monarchy it finally became has been written very well by author Christopher Clark. He kept a steady pace throughout and it was fascinating to follow the growth of Prussia, be that by the various machinations of the monarchy, the politician's, the bureaucracy and last but not least the military. Chapters on Fredrick the Great made enthralling reading. The authors explanation of the four wars for me defined what became known as Prussian Militarism. Examinations of a social welfare system that was the envy of progressives in such places a Great Britain made fascinating reading. All this was 5 star presentation.

So why only 4 stars? Because I found the authors defence of Prussian militarism at times a little ham fisted and also far too lengthy. One example comes to mind when he wrote that the western allies did not understand the anti-Nazi feeling of the Prussian traditionalists. The Soviets did and their propaganda that was supportive of the perpetrators of the July plot of 44 was indicative of that understanding. In the next sentence he writes that this support was really in truth “all eyewash”.

In the end though a highly recommended book.