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Iron Kingdom
- The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 28 hrs and 24 mins
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Publisher's summary
In the aftermath of World War II, Prussia - a centuries-old state pivotal to Europe's development - ceased to exist. In their eagerness to erase all traces of the Third Reich from the earth, the Allies believed that Prussia, the very embodiment of German militarism, had to be abolished. But as Christopher Clark reveals in this pioneering history, Prussia's legacy is far more complex.
What we find is a kingdom that existed nearly half a millennium ago as a patchwork of territorial fragments, with neither significant resources nor a coherent culture. With its capital in Berlin, Prussia grew from being a small, poor, disregarded medieval state into one of the most vigorous and powerful nations in Europe. Iron Kingdom traces Prussia's involvement in the continent's foundational religious and political conflagrations: from the devastations of the Thirty Years' War through centuries of political machinations to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, from the enlightenment of Frederick the Great to the destructive conquests of Napoleon, and from the "iron and blood" policies of Bismarck to the creation of the German Empire in 1871 and all that implied for the tumultuous 20th century.
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- alexyakkavoo
- 06-03-20
Let me make it easier for you.
I have listened a lot of books on Audible - most of them history - and I just can't take any more of this one.
It's like being nibbled to death by ducks or a bedtime story from the IRS tax form instructions.
For a place that influenced so much European history, Prussia should be much more interesting than this book
makes it out to be:
Take a few hours and repeat the following lines with variations and you will get an idea what this book is like.
(The dates and people and places are in a random order.)
Albert Frederick
April 4, 1602
August 8, 1732
Carl von Brühl
Christian of Oliva
David Caro
Dorothea of Montau
February 2, 1556
Frederick I
Frederick William
Friedrich Bessel
Fyodor Ertell
George William
Hans Albrecht von Barfus
Henry Berger
January 1, 1611
John Endres
John Sigismund
July 7, 1632
June 6, 1589
Leonie Cohn
Ludolf von Alvensleben (Major General)
March 3, 1568
May 5, 1715
October 10, 1547
Paul Beneke
Peter Crüger
September 9, 1788
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45 people found this helpful
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- Nashville Cat
- 03-04-17
Avoided endless stories about world wars
This is a great book because it sticks to the topic: Prussia. It covers social issues and economic issues and is very interesting as to the development of Europe. Once Germany is formed Prussia becomes dominant and the nation turns in a giant barracks. There is discussion of the world wars but at 20,000 feet and the consequences of Prussian militarism become apparent. Highly recommended.
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26 people found this helpful
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- Jeff Wise
- 10-04-17
If you are looking for a very detailed accounting of Prussian history this is it.
Very detailed. I think the paper copy would have been a better choice for the ability to annotate and reference. As an audio book it went a little too deep in to the minutiae for effective storytelling. I’ve reviewed the narrator before, and he has gotten better, but still so very breathy in his pronunciation and diction. Very very well researched book though.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Stephen F (SPFJR)
- 03-02-17
I Recommend This Great Book... (now that technical problem is fixed)
This book gives lots of context for the German Empire which helps explain the course of the Great War.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Glenn Phillips
- 03-25-18
Hated the narration
I was continually annoyed by pronunciations used by the narrator. Where German names have English equivalents, the author chose to use the English versions (eg, William rather than Wilhelm), but the narrator bizarrely chose to give those English names a mock-German pronunciation (eg, Villiam). It took me a while to work out that "Kolonya" was a reference to Cologne. Route and clerk were given an American pronunciations even though the narrator is English. Courtier was given a French pronunciation, but I had to laugh when courtiers (plural) was also given a French pronunciation, but with an "s" sound tacked on the end. A real classic was Venetian, which sounded half way between the English word and the Italian Venizia. The stress within lots of words was randomly reassigned - straTEEgist, adJUdant. Some words gained syllables while others lost them. I don't speak German, but the pronunciation of some German words and names also sounded off - Hegel being pronounced HEEgal. This all detracted greatly from an otherwise interesting book.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Bill Root
- 04-06-17
Excellent Overview
I thoroughly enjoyed this book both as a lesson in history and culture. Clark dives right in to the alliances and conflicts of the 17th century Holy Roman Empire. The first chapter is a bit of a whirlwind and I found myself reading articles in other publications to fill myself in on historical events discussed in this book so that I could keep up with the author. My patience and extra studies paid off though. The book is an excellent read, providing incites as to what defined Prussia as a state, and how it's place in history affect our understanding of the German people. I highly recommend this book.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-12-18
Tough Going but Worth It
Written in long, convoluted prose, spiced with difficult German names and places, a prior knowledge of European history and geography would make the going much easier. Having neither to a great degree I had to do independent reading to fully understand many of the key events and personalities . However, the book's focus is tailored to its more limited subject, Prussia, and takes a very deep dive into just that. Slow going but rich in insight and into the politics, culture, religion and psychology of the area and by extension, into German history. Fills a big gap in my understanding of this vital area of the world.
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9 people found this helpful
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- JCC
- 03-24-17
great book, easy to listen to, well written
great book, easy to listen to, well written and great narration. look forward to more from author and narrator
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9 people found this helpful
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- H3
- 01-25-19
Excellent! Good narration, engaging writing!!
the narrator did an amazing job!!!!!!! I'm probably overly critical of poor narration, and pretty quick to criticize, but this guy narrated this entire tome with talent and professionalism. I'm sure any audiobook lover knows how valuable that is.
the book itself, I found very engaging and informative. it's similar to Massey's Peter the Great narrative language, fascinating vignettes that add dimension to the historical information and even humorous tone make this book well worth even a few listens.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Carl Thompson
- 09-18-17
Whew. What Was that?
I bought this book to get a keen insight about the making of the Prussian/German psyche. What I got was hours of mundane drivel about the minute details of the inner workings of Prussia.
How did we get from Bismarck to Hitler?
How did Germany go from being a beacon of European development to being the destroyer of European hope?
These question aren't touched. What a pity.
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5 people found this helpful
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Story
The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world.
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Best Single-Volume History of the 30 Years' War
- By Amazon Customer on 10-09-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
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Bismarck
- The Man and the Statesman
- By: A.J.P. Taylor
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In this compelling biography, historian A. J. P. Taylor reevaluates Bismarck's motives and methods, focusing on the chancellor's rise to power in the 1860s and his removal from office in 1890.
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Good, but read a primer first
- By Paolo Menuez on 06-12-18
By: A.J.P. Taylor
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Blood and Iron
- The Rise and Fall of the German Empire; 1871-1918
- By: Katja Hoyer
- Narrated by: Natasha Soudek
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Before 1871, Germany was not yet a nation but simply an idea. Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring 39 individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser? How would he convince proud Prussians, Bavarians, and Rhinelanders to become Germans? Once united, could the young European nation wield enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France - all without destroying itself in the process?
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Misleading title/subtitle
- By Ethan Brown on 12-15-21
By: Katja Hoyer
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The Sleepwalkers
- How Europe Went to War in 1914
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict.
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Very interesting take on a complex problem
- By Steve on 01-24-15
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Iron and Blood
- A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Rory Alexander
- Length: 34 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Iron and Blood takes as its starting point the consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire, which created new mechanisms for raising troops but also for resolving disputes diplomatically.
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Superb narration
- By Amazon Customer on 08-24-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
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Revolutionary Spring
- Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
- By: Christopher Clark
- Narrated by: Christopher Clark
- Length: 33 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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As history, the uprisings of 1848 have long been overshadowed by the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century. And yet in 1848 nearly all of Europe was aflame with conflict. Parallel political tumults spread like brush fire across the entire continent, leading to significant changes that continue to shape our world today. These battles for the future were fought with one eye kept squarely on the past. Revolutionary Spring is a new understanding of 1848 that offers chilling parallels to our present moment.
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Like the revolutions, it got off to a good start
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
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The Thirty Years War
- Europe's Tragedy
- By: Peter H. Wilson
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 33 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The Thirty Years War devastated seventeenth-century Europe, killing nearly a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to towns and countryside alike. Peter Wilson offers the first new history in a generation of a horrifying conflict that transformed the map of the modern world.
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Best Single-Volume History of the 30 Years' War
- By Amazon Customer on 10-09-23
By: Peter H. Wilson
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History of Prussia
- A Captivating Guide to the Kingdom of Prussia and Its Role in the Napoleonic Wars, Franco-Prussian War, and Unification of Germany in 1871
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook will take you on a thrilling ride through history, starting with the modest origins of Prussia and its Hohenzollern dynasty. You will be amazed at how they traversed the historical barbwire of late medieval times, unwillingly entangled in wars with greater powers and religious reformation. You will learn of their struggles against the Habsburgs and Austria, France and Napoleon, and many other adversaries in the countless wars in which the Prussians found themselves - wars which weren’t always won by them.
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Great overview of Prussia
- By outdoor lover on 01-19-23
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Bismarck's War
- The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Rachel Chrastil
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century. In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full.
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It's rare I don't finish a book...
- By Chris Corsini on 09-26-23
By: Rachel Chrastil
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The Middle Kingdoms
- A New History of Central Europe
- By: Martyn Rady
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture.
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Voice Edit
- By Josh Peterson on 08-28-23
By: Martyn Rady
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Germany
- A Nation in Its Time: Before, During, and After Nationalism, 1500-2000
- By: Helmut Walser Smith
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 20 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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For nearly a century, historians have depicted Germany as a rabidly nationalist land, born in a sea of aggression. Not so, says Helmut Walser Smith, who, in this groundbreaking 500-year history, challenges traditional perceptions of Germany's conflicted past, revealing a nation far more thematically complicated than 20th-century historians have imagined.
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review response
- By Matthew and Tracy Johnson on 10-30-21
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The Habsburgs
- To Rule the World
- By: Martyn Rady
- Narrated by: Simon Boughey
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive history of a powerful family dynasty who dominated Europe for centuries - from their rise to power to their eventual downfall.
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An Excellent and Interesting History
- By Darrel Bishop on 09-14-20
By: Martyn Rady
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The Thirty Years War
- By: C. V. Wedgwood
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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