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Iron Kingdom

The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947

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Iron Kingdom

Auteur(s): Christopher Clark
Narrateur(s): Shaun Grindell
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À propos de cet audio

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.

©2006 Christopher Clark (P)2017 Tantor
Allemagne De l’Ouest Europe Militaire Europe de l’Ouest Guerre Moyen Âge Redevances Impérialisme Socialisme
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The best effort was likely made to keep material this dense from being dry, and the narrator made a commendable effort to add inflection wherever possible. The beginning was the hardest as I had just finished listening to the monumental Peter the Great narration, which was a lovely experience in its general lightness. This tome contains more info but does not have nearly the atmosphere of Peter. In all, this listen was a tall ask but I made it through and learned a lot.

Rich in details

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A fascinating listen. But the narrator mispronounces almost every German name. Despite this, entirely worth a listen and details the history of Prussia.

Infuriating narrator can't say German names

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If you're a real history buff, this book is for you. Otherwise...
This is a scholarly work. Well-researched, full of quotes. I bet the paper version has plenty of footnotes. Clark's descriptions of military events is spot-on. The sociopolitical discussions are less palatable. The book generally follows a linear timeline, but jumps around a bit based on the subject matter. If you're studying Prussian History, this work has all you need.
Unfortunately, the topic, outside of a college class, is pretty dry - and doesn't translate well to the audiobook configuration. Further, in the download there are no chapter headings - a date range for each chapter would have been helpful to be able to navigate through this 29 (twenty-nine!!) hour recording. The paper form of the book, with an index, would be a great desk-reference.
Shaun Grindell is an average reader...not terrible given the subject matter. His tone is good, he reads German and Latin words fairly accurately (albeit not perfectly), and he tries to inject a modicum of emotion into the text. But I swear I heard him stifling a yawn at one point.
It's likely worth 6 stars out of 10, but I can't give it that. Buy the hard copy.

Good History Textbook. Not Good Format

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The narrators German pronunciation is terrible - even mine is probably better - and his English pronunciation is pretty peculiar as well. All of that made the book a lot harder to understand and follow, which is too bad as Clark really knows his stuff.

Good book, poor narration

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This book was an excruciating experience. Prussian history as written by a mid level bureaucrat or accountant. It has tons of incredibly interesting information, but those gems are buried under a mountain of mundane minutiae. When the book finally ended I actually exclaimed out loud “Thank F***ing Christ!”
Not my fave.

Everything you didn’t want to know about Prussia

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Dont let the bad reviews fool you, this book is one of the most educational books one can listen to. Competely shatters what you’ve been taught about German history. Sure, its a long book but Prussia has an incredibly complex backstory. Anything with less depth would not be cohesive.

Fantastic

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I like learning about Prussia, but the writing. Geez, Historians sure aren’t writers. He’s the type of writer who says he needs to transport himself to the lavatory for a urinary dispensation into the nearby porcelain receptor where he once had had gone so many times before, when all he needs to say is he’s going to take a leak. And the narrator. His tone is like he is going to make an interesting point, but the ramble just continues and continues like he’s always leading up to going to take a leak, but never does. Some facts are interesting to learn about, but there is just so much unnecessary clutter, and unending ramble and it ends nowhere. Ramble right up to the last sentence, which isn’t even a true statement. Some historians are good at tying everything together at the end. Not this one.

Topic great, writing and narrating terrible

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I was looking for information about Prussia. The title of this book must be renamed : A history of antisemitism in Goyim-Prussia from the perspective of Schiff, Warburg and Rothschild...

Waste of time.

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