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Kaiser Wilhelm II: The Life and Legacy of Germany's Emperor During World War I Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

"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.

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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

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3.6 out of 5 stars
26 global ratings

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  • Robert Currie
    4.0 out of 5 stars We ought to have hanged the Kaiser for war crimes. Why didn't we that is the question?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2015
    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 BALDWIN
    4.0 out of 5 stars A very good book but a bit on the short size
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 25, 2016
    A very good book but a bit on the short size.
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