Holy Roman Empire

Rating:
Summary: Packed with facts but not quite bed-time reading!
Review: A seriously comprehensive book covering all aspects of the Holy Roman Empire. Very readable in terms of fact collection, though the style of the prose is rather dry! Never mind - all you ever want to know about the most important political institution ever.

Rating:
Summary: Valuable history
Review: Heer is undoubtedly a great historian: this book is full of insight into the history of Germany and how even its oldest legacies relate to the modern world and World War II. European history isn't my forte, but as a fanatic lover of history I dabble in it whever I can. This book was definitely not made for a casual reader like me, though. The already complex history of the Holy Roman Empire is exasperated by the author's scholarly magnitute coupled with a poor translation ("...would prove whether he was indeed the mighty one strong to save who could secure peace for his people...") To add, though the book is full (I mean, FULL) of plates, colour and b/w; it has not one map or chart in it. For guys like me who aren't particularly learned in German geography and the names of her prominent families, a little help would have meant the world.

Nevertheless, I forced my way through this meaty, tiring read from cover to cover; though I probably picked up only a fraction of the book's wealth of knowledge, I can say that I understand the subject infinitely better than when I picked it up. It has flaws, but these aren't the author's fault. This book is a valuable read for German history lovers, with a fair warning for amatuers (like me).