He was, in the minds of many, the man responsible for the catastrophe that engulfed Europe in 1914.
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the cold, brutal ruler who represented the pride and swagger of Imperial Germany, and must take the bulk of the responsibility for the First World War.
But who was the real man behind the image?
Although his caricature is firmly etched on the mind, the Kaiser remains an elusive figure. Alan Palmer has set out to tell the story of the extraordinary life of this temperamentally insecure man who was outwardly so full of swagger and bombast -the epitome of the new, self-confident Germany.
Born in a Prussia that was the supreme militaristic society of the post-Napoleonic era and accustomed from his earliest days to all the trappings and sounds of soldiery, Wilhelm was obsessed through-out his adolescence by the need to appear every inch a soldier.
Alan Palmer has examined the Anglo-German background to Wilhelm's life and reign and he emphasizes his changing attitudes towards Britain - a country he both admired and resented. In particular he has thrown new light on the clash of imperial-isms in the 1890s, the Kaiser's visit to England in 1907 and on the attitude of the British government in the 1930s towards the exiled monarch.
'The Kaiser' is the definitive biography of one of the crucial figures of early 20th-century history, and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the era he dominated.
Alan Palmer was head of the History Department at Highgate School from 1953 to 1969 when he gave up his post to concentrate on historical writing and research. His many books include ‘Metternich: Councillor of Europe’; ‘Alexander I: Tsar of War’ and ‘Bismarck’.
Kaiser Wilhelm II, the cold, brutal ruler who represented the pride and swagger of Imperial Germany, and must take the bulk of the responsibility for the First World War.
But who was the real man behind the image?
Although his caricature is firmly etched on the mind, the Kaiser remains an elusive figure. Alan Palmer has set out to tell the story of the extraordinary life of this temperamentally insecure man who was outwardly so full of swagger and bombast -the epitome of the new, self-confident Germany.
Born in a Prussia that was the supreme militaristic society of the post-Napoleonic era and accustomed from his earliest days to all the trappings and sounds of soldiery, Wilhelm was obsessed through-out his adolescence by the need to appear every inch a soldier.
Alan Palmer has examined the Anglo-German background to Wilhelm's life and reign and he emphasizes his changing attitudes towards Britain - a country he both admired and resented. In particular he has thrown new light on the clash of imperial-isms in the 1890s, the Kaiser's visit to England in 1907 and on the attitude of the British government in the 1930s towards the exiled monarch.
'The Kaiser' is the definitive biography of one of the crucial figures of early 20th-century history, and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the era he dominated.
Alan Palmer was head of the History Department at Highgate School from 1953 to 1969 when he gave up his post to concentrate on historical writing and research. His many books include ‘Metternich: Councillor of Europe’; ‘Alexander I: Tsar of War’ and ‘Bismarck’.
