The Kaiser

'A fascinating book about a fascinating historical/psychological case' Kirkus Review Kaiser William II was an unusual character. He took control of the most powerful European state. He unwound the alliances and treaties of Bismarck. He fortified the German navy to rival Britain’s and was then surprised when they took this as a threat to British naval supremacy and then refused to deploy his navy in the greatest war the world has witnessed. When supreme war lord during World War One, he fell far short of the task. He considered himself usurped of power whilst also neglecting the responsibility of Kaiser in wartime, preferring to parade at victorious battlefields than command them. However, many viewed the Kaiser as the reason the war started and at least part of the reason why it was lost. His vanity-fuelled naval project stifled relations with the British which led to their willingness to declare war. At the loss of the war, the Kaiser fled a revolution in Germany; his actions and the actions of the politicians around him changed Germany forever in a most volatile period of European history. In later life, he remained in exile in the Netherlands, but maintained that God had a plan to restate his authority and, at the promise of certain powers, he was a supporter of the Nazi Party. But, as this promise was betrayed, the Kaiser became a virulent opponent of Nazism. Virginia Cowles’s account of the Kaiser’s life is studded with the personal tribulations of other significant German politicians. Not only does Cowles shed light on the Kaiser’s life, but The Kaiser is also an insight into the Machiavellian world of late 19th Century and early 20th Century German politics. Virginia Cowles (1910-83) was a well-respected American journalist and biographer, especially known for her coverage of the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. For her service as a war correspondent she was awarded an OBE by the British government in 1947. She authored fifteen books, about her journalistic experiences, various historical topics, figures and families, and was a contributor to Vogue and Harper’s. Praise for Virginia Cowles: ‘A fascinating historical read’ The Telegraph ‘A rarity and a joy – a witty novel’ Birmingham Daily Post ‘A luminously sketched view of human folly’ The New York Times ‘For the political background alone you must read Cowles’ book, which deals with it admirably’ Country Life