Noble Endeavours: The Life of Two Countries, England and Germany, in Many Stories

Here is history of a love affair between Germany and Britain that became a troubled marriage after many centuries with all the passion, anger, tragedy and humour of star-crossed lovers just aching to be reunited. It begins with the marriage of Elizabeth Stuart (the Winter Queen or Queen of Hearts) to the Elector Palatine in February 1613. This union between the Thames and Rhine was celebrated by her father James VI and I with court performances of The Winter's Tale and The Tempest.

Thereafter the histories of the two countries were constantly woven together with Hanoverian monarchs inheriting the British throne and artists, musicians, writers, bankers, industrialists and ordinary people following their example of merging two countries show more and cultures. George Eliot and G.H. Lewes eloped together and spent their unofficial honeymoon in Weimar – she spoke execrable German but wrote it perfectly. The stories told here are stained with the terror and cruelties of war. Families were pulled apart with the Great War and divided loyalties one member declaring: 'I feel as if my mother and father have quarrelled.' For Nazi POWs in Scotland, one man worked hard ensure that they took 'part in the reconciliation of all people and the maintenance of peace.' The Jewish interpreter, who had fought for Britain, Herbert Sulzbach, as Miranda Syemour writes 'never stopped working for reconciliation between England and Germany, the two countries he loved.'

Despite the agony and heartbreak of the Second World War, the stories of compassion, forgiveness and love are what remain with this reader and that this is a union, albeit rather worn and grumpy, should continue and be as happy, and hopefully far more successful, as that as the love-match between Elizabeth and Frederick of Bohemia. show less

Victoria’s offspring, in peace and war

The Pity of War: England and Germany, Bitter Friends, Beloved Foes by Miranda Seymour (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, $32).

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that most of the heads of state during World War I—which began a mere century ago—were related. Queen Victoria, only recently passed, was called “the grandmother of Europe,” but her funeral in 1901 brought together powers—including her son, Britain’s Edward VIII, and her eldest grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II—who would soon be at each other’s throats.

But Miranda Seymour’s examination of the relationship between Britain and Germany, The Pity of War: England and Germany, Bitter Friends, Beloved Foes, goes further, detailing just show more how complex and long the tugs of war and love have been between the two states. Seymour uses narratives of individual lives, both royal and common, to show how closely tied the two nations are; the term “Anglo-Saxon” goes back to the fifth century, when the first merging of the peoples occurred.

The bottom line is that all people are related to each other, though nationalism and tribalism often prevent us from seeing that. Seymour’s work makes clear that the differences between the English and the Germans are superficial and recent; perhaps recognizing our relationships can help us avoid more internecine war.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com show less

England and Germany have been both close allies and bitter enemies over the past two hundred years. In this book Seymour looks at the parallel histories of two great nations through the lives of a series of interesting and sometimes outrageous characters whose stories encompass this relationship.



I thoroughly enjoyed this book because although the history was known, the experiences made it seem so much more grounded in reality. In particular the sufferings of the German nationals during the Second World War and the antics of the naive youth of the 1930s who visited Germany and became entranced by Hitler.

Little vignettes of extraordinary lives bring history alive!

"The life of two countries (England and Germany) in many stories" is an apt sub-title for this book by Miranda Seymour which is rich in anecdotes.

In talking about the relationship between England and Germany, the author set out originally to write about the years between the two world wars, but found herself drawn to a much earlier history with an extraordinary cast of characters from both countries, including Prince Pueckler-Muskau and Lucie, Theodor Fontane, Sir Edward Goschen, Prince Lichnowsky, Margot Asquith, Daisy Pless and Hansel, Tisa Schulenburg, Hubert Herkomer and James Boswell.

We, the readers, are treated to anecdotes about all of these and many other people who influenced and were affected by the relationship between the show more two countries.

Miranda Seymour's book contains new material and surprises on nearly every page. I enjoyed it, and I'm sure that anyone else who is interested in the English view of Germany and the German view of England would come away with a wealth of new knowledge from reading it. show less

A lot of history, a lot of interesting people.

The about this book is that I liked some of the chapters and some not so much. The problem I had with some chapters is that the writing style was too much at once. It seemed like the author wanted to put in a lot of information and by doing that she jumped from one interesting person to another one and to another one and to another one, and then back to the first one.

So with those chapters I would have wanted less and more. Less people, and more information about the people in the book. I am like that, I always want more and here there were not enough.

Ok to the chapters I liked then, they were more fleshed out but I would have wanted even more. As I said there are A LOT of people mentioned show more in this book and some interesting ones were about Queen Victoria and her children. And the Winter Queen.

For the historical non-fiction lover this is a true treasure. 300 years of history between Germany and England. A lot of people that were new to me, some I did not know a lot about and all the rest. And they sure wanted to better the relationship between the countries. show less

History of Anglo-German relations, told through the stories of individual families