The Last Kaiser: The Life of Wilhelm II

3713. The Last Kaiser: The Life of Wilhelm II, by Giles MacDonogh (read 11 Mar 2003) Since I have read, on Oct 14, 1989, The Kaiser and His Times, by Michael Balfour, and, on 2 Sept 2000, Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor, by John Van der Kiste, it was hard for me to see why I should read this new biography of him. But I succumbed, and did. The prose in this book is unclear at times--"his" might refer to not the last mentioned man but the one mentioned before that! There is no bibliography, and the hordes of footnotes tell little and do not indicate extensive study, though many are to German books. Nevertheless I enjoyed the book muchly, especially the account of the years 1912 to 1918--momentous years indeed. Wilhelm (as he is show more called in the title, though in the book he is always called William!) was a flawed man, very German even though his mother was Queen Victoria's eldest daughter. The book is probably more kind to Wilhelm than English authors usually are, but it tells plenty about his oddities and mistakes. The account of his tree chopping down in his retirement seems incredible, though we are not told what equipment he used. This was a most interesting book re most interesting events, even though it had flaws. show less