Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor

Rating:
Summary: Comphresive Biography of the Last Kaiser
Review: John Van Der Kiste's recent biography of Germany's last Emperor covers in detail the Kaiser's personality, his life and the situation in which he lived. His book tells the story of how the Kaiser's life affected Germany and the rest of Europe between 1888 and 1918. This biography is not just about the Great War, but also about a man, born royal and his associations with other Royals, about his habits and their consequences in a time where royal connections and influence were changing.

This biography is simply written and can be read by the general reader who is interested in European History or Royal Biographies. This book is not to long as to bore the reader with political manuevers and associations; but does cover the fundamental topics and issues during the Kaiser's reign.

Van Der Kiste's continues his success with Royal Biographies and as with most of his work, I have included this biography in my collection.

Rating:
Summary: Adequate but fun to read
Review: The author of this book accuses Michael Balfour in his biography of Wilhelm II of being "sympathetic" to his subject. This book is not. I found the book fun to read, tho it is not well footnoted and its bibliography is not a first-rate one, in my view. I suspect there are better biographies of Wilhelm II than this one. I read Balfour's The Kaiser and His Times, but I was not overly impressed by it, either. Does anyone know what is the best biography of Wilhelm II?

Rating:
Summary: Adequate but fun to read
Review: The author of this book accuses Michael Balfour in his biography of Wilhelm II of being "sympathetic" to his subject. This book is not. I found the book fun to read, tho it is not well footnoted and its bibliography is not a first-rate one, in my view. I suspect there are better biographies of Wilhelm II than this one. I read Balfour's The Kaiser and His Times, but I was not overly impressed by it, either. Does anyone know what is the best biography of Wilhelm II?

Rating:
Summary: Nothing new in here
Review: This book was relatively interesting, but if you really want to dig into the detail about Wilhelm II's life, you'd be better off with Lamar Cecil's two volume work. There really wasn't much new news in here, and Van der Kiste treated his subject pretty lightly, all things considered. Excellent bibliography, though.

Rating:
Summary: Kaiser Wilhelm II: The brilliant, volatile failure
Review: This is a compelling book about Germany's last emperor, a man whose power, ambition and instability contributed to World War I and lead to the demise of royal houses throughout Europe, including his own.

Inheriting the throne of Germany at the height of that country's power at the turn of the century, Wilhelm was an unstable man who suffered a difficult birth and childhood; who had a love/hate relationship with his English relatives; who believed he ruled by divine right at a time when other rulers were accepting democratic reform.

He was creative, brilliant, mercurial, even visionary. He was driven by the need for power for himself and his country. He was alleged to be bisexual and involved in various scandels.

His need to prove his power and that of Germany could have been a success. Germany entered the 20th Century with a growing middle class, healthy economy, rich creativity in the arts, industrial expansion and great creature comforts. But this same need for power and influence drove him into military expansion to compete with England and engage in pacts with various countries in Europe, still playing royal diplomatic games and not understanding the terror of modern warfare as at was developing.

It lead to World War I. Wilhelm's denial about the realities of the war lead to unrest. Germany lost badly and suffered after the armistice. Wilhelm fled into exile in Holland, dying on the eve of World War II, given a military funeral by Hitler, whom he came to loath after his initial enthusiasm for the Nazis.

The books tells Wilhelms's story in a compelling way, with many fascinating details. One wonders what the world would be like today, had Wilhelm's more liberal father inherited the throne, rather than dying prematurely, placing this complex man in such a position of power.

Rating:
Summary: The kaiser leading his country to ruin.
Review: This is a short biography of Germany's Last Emperor, William II.
As stated previously, it is short and a summary of his life.
The story includes his own downfall, leading Germany to the
Weimar Republic and then Nazi Germany.

The book does its best work in describing William's early life,
and his frosty relations with his English mother and relatives.
This led to alienation from the English royalty and prevented
Germany from forming an alliance with Great Britain, and a more
liberalized regime in Germany.

The book describes William's views on Jews, French, Russia, and
Great Britain. This was not a positive side to his personality.
Also detailed is his relationship to his mother, wife, and various mistresses, with a possible homosexual relationship with
his best friend. The author does not go into detail into this
last aspect, because there is not much evidence. His choice of
people to lead his Empire resulted in the First World War.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing new in here
Review: This superb book by Van Der Kiste explores the travails which confronted Wilhelm from the time he entered the world in a botched birth until the time of his exile. If the reader wishes a very real window into middle Europe from the time of the Franco-Prussian War until the advent of the Weimar Republic they need not read further than the pages of this account. Kaiser Wilhelm had his thumb in every pie baked on the continent.... from the Balkan Wars to World War I. He was beset not only with adversaries from across a continent but also from within his own government and family. Seeking a spot for Germany on the world stage the Kaiser's own indecision and poor judgement of people he chose to serve him, terminated his plans for a world wide German Empire. His failure and his inability to understand his own limitations led not only to his destruction, but also set the stage for the destruction of most of Europe in the two brutal wars which marked this century. The author artfully demonstrates that the desires of the individual must be based in reality and the desires of a nation must be as well. If not, all of us reap the whirlwind. This book is suggested reading for historians and academics alone. It is not for the casual reader.