![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/audible/2.0/buybox/prime/audible_logo_mark._CB485936171_.png)
Enjoy a free trial on us
$0.00$0.00
- One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection to keep (you’ll use your first credit now).
- Unlimited listening on select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
- You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
- $14.95$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Buy
-13% $6.08$6.08
Kaiser Wilhelm II: The Life and Legacy of Germany's Emperor During World War I
Audible Audiobook
– Unabridged
"You will be home before the leaves fall from the trees." (Kaiser Wilhelm II to German troops leaving for the front at the start of World War I)
Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm II, who occupied the throne of the German Empire for more than 30 years from June 1888 to November 1918, remains as much an enigma in death as he was in life. Over 70 years after his death in 1941, the mention of his name still sparks unsettled debates among historians. Was he the duty-bound, hands-on leader and passionate pro-British reformer who ruled in challenging times, seemingly mild in comparison to Hitler? Or was he an inept, mentally imbalanced, and reckless seeker of attention? Was he even possibly a tragic hero who could only fail at his task given the complexities of his age? At the core of such diverse opinions are the contradictory assumptions found within the vast amount of scholarship that exists on the emperor and his era. On one point, however, there is agreement: his influence on imperial Germany was enormous.
The earliest writings on Wilhelm II tended to treat him either bitterly, as the most hated man in Europe and an out-of-touch autocrat who mismanaged his government and left the world embroiled in the greatest war it had ever seen, or as a respectful and loyal servant of the state and faithful husband. But in the past 50 years, historiography has favored a dispassionate approach that has transcended the earlier writings' depiction of the Kaiser either slavishly or as the cause of the age's tribulations. This dispassionate trend in scholarship originated with a seminar on "Kaiser Wilhelm II as a Cultural Phenomenon", given in 1977 at the University of Freiburg by Professor John Röhl and based on his discovery of new archival materials.
- Listening Length1 hour and 26 minutes
- Audible release dateJune 22, 2015
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB0107LXUOO
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
Read & Listen
Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to Audible audiobook.Add the audiobook for a reduced price of $1.99 after you get the Kindle book as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription.
People who bought this also bought
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
Related to this topic
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
Only from Audible
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
- Audible Audiobook
Product details
Listening Length | 1 hour and 26 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Charles River Editors |
Narrator | T. David Rutherford |
Whispersync for Voice | Ready |
Audible.com Release Date | June 22, 2015 |
Publisher | Charles River Editors |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B0107LXUOO |
Best Sellers Rank | #434,162 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #359 in World War I History (Audible Books & Originals) #531 in German History (Audible Books & Originals) #1,483 in Historical Germany Biographies |
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2018Finally some serious analysis of a man whom history has blamed for so much evil--wrongly!
Visit his exile home at Doorn, Holland.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2018Well written and researched. Like many of humankind's leaders, Kaiser Wilhelm II turns out to be just average, and mostly harmless. Unfortunately, "average" leadership was insufficient in the crisis of 1914. Other efforts by Wilhelm before the war had better results. He did manage to placate the German middle class, sidestepping Bismarck's more confrontational strategy. The book was a reminder how easily things can go from good to very bad under marginal leaders.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2014Too short and not nearly informative enough.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2014ONE OF THE KEY EUROPEAN ARCHITECTS OF THE PRE WW I WORLD ORDER, HEGIMONY WHICH DISSOLVED AT VERSAILLES AND SET THE WORLD STAGE FOR THE NEXT 100+ YEARS
- Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2021This was a pamphlet not a paperback or book.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2014If you need a thumbnail sketch of KW2, this is your book. Not much detail, but a basic introduction - almost like a book report.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2015More like a pamphlet than a book. Very superficial.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2016This little book taught me a great deal about the Kaiser it was a supplement for the lack of education the School system gives.
Top reviews from other countries
- Robert CurrieReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2015
4.0 out of 5 stars We ought to have hanged the Kaiser for war crimes. Why didn't we that is the question?
I have read so many books about the Kaiser that I could just about author one of my own. This edition was a good read but lacked the depth of the many others I have read. Th?//at said, I have no hesitation in recommending it to others
- MR C E BALDWINReviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2016
4.0 out of 5 stars A very good book but a bit on the short size
A very good book but a bit on the short size.
t