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| Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 | 
 enlarge | Author: Christopher Clark
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy Used: £7.00
You Save: £5.99 (46%)
New (30) from £7.03
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 5550
Media: Paperback
Pages: 816
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0140293345
EAN: 9780140293340
ASIN: 0140293345
Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Some spine creases and front cover is worn at both corners, otherwise good condition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
Good but not quite good enough November 21, 2008
Iron Kingdom by Christopher Clark is a good book which deals with the emergence as a major European power of Prussia through to its eventual erradication. The book itself is well written and informative but it is not quite what you would expect from a book on this subject. Although the early years of the emergence of Brandenberg- Prussia are dealt with in detail (mainly concerning the military exploits) after a certain point the book becomes more of a social history rather than anything else and in the end skims over the Great War and the fall of the ruling dynasty. However, having said that the book is informative and does explain why Prussia ended up as the state it was (although not so much how this occured) and that many of the pre-conceptions and myths about Prussia and Prussians are not actually based in reality but are a distorted view of the evidence.
 Comprehensive and thorough July 26, 2008
Christopher Clark's history of Prussia is, to say the least, comprehensive. It's also interesting, covering as it does the whole period from 1600 until the end of World War II. Occasionally, it gets a little dry, but most of the time it is a well written portrayal of not just the royal court, but also of peasants, burgers, aristos, merchants and the emerging of the working class.
Although the book charts the rise and eventual fall of the Hohenzollern dynasty, it does so within the framework of the geopolitics of a state that was peculiarly vulnerable to attack for most of its existence. It also traces the two influences that defined the Prussian state - militarism and a progressive and enlightened liberalism.
Fascinating, and fundamental to understanding the 20th Century history of Europe.
 A good book - but not popular history May 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a well-researched book covering a fascinating period, but shouldn't be described as popular history. Many sections - indeed entire chapters - have little interest for the general reader. This is a shame, as the good parts are excellent. If you are tempted, be aware that you have 688 pages of compact type to negotiate!
 Too much talk not enough action... March 11, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
They say never trust a book by its cover and this book is a great case in point. The paperback oozes the military confidence and strangely warlike nature of Prussia. This promised to be a book that in equal measure dazzles you with military prowess and then the cultural achievements of Prussia all to end in the inferno of World War 2...but then you actually start reading it.
Everything here is well written, thoroughly researched and highly readable. I will give Christopher Clark 5 out of 5 for giving dry bureaucratic issues enough verve to get you to care. This book is one of those great titles that fills in the blanks around areas which most people know about- Frederick the Great WW1, WW2 (all be it discussed in a heart beat) etc are all present and correct but I had never even heard of Frederick William before and I am now suitably impressed by his abilities.
Where it falls down however is it is largely a cultural and sociological book. Nothing wrong with that per se but that isn't mentioned anywhere in the title and of course Prussia wasn't just renowned for its tax systems and pretty buildings. Even when the author gets to talking about the military it's more about the canton recruitment system than the actual fighting done by the army. It's almost like Christopher Clark finds the huge wars that engulfed Europe as dull but can't get enough of the importance of grain silo rebuilding which is (to be polite) a little odd.
If you are the sort of person who argues that social history is more important to the average man than battles, well I cannot argue with your logic, but I read history to not only learn but to be entertained too so to have the Franco-Prussian war distilled into 5 pages with only one of those on the battles I find disappointing particularly when you compare it to the endless information on the political repercussions of the 1848 uprisings.
Saying this misses the point is a little harsh but either there should be less detail on the structure of the bureaucracy to allow a little more on the Prussian military victories or perhaps it should have been a longer book giving the various conflicts as much depth as something as dull as the draining of the Oder estuary. The final option is just be honest and rename this "A social history of Prussia"- that way my negative comments are all irrelevant and I could have saved 7.99.
Going back to my title this could have done with less talk and more action.
More to Prussia than you thought! January 20, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Iron Kingdom is an extremely stimulating work. Thoughtful enquiry and taut analysis produce remarkable insight and conclusions. It is a work of causal relationships rather than events. The interactions of cultural, socio-economic, dynastic and constitutional tensions are clearly pointed within the shifting geographic patchwork of Brandenburg Prussia. The relative ebbs and flows of influences such as religion, enlightenment, militarism, political and national ideologies and the preferences of dominant personalities stand out, helping to explain why events took particular courses. So the emerging tragedy in post-1870 Imperial and Weimar Germany can be identified. The reader is given plenty to reflect on what might have been in Prussia.
All this has been achieved in a well written work. The language register is rigorous (at 70, I was occasionally driven to the dictionary) but there are quotable sentences and sources to savour. I feel revived by a refreshing example of historians' discipline.
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