'The Saxons most carefully guarded their race and nobility and did not taint themselves casually by intermarriage with any other tribes, let alone inferior ones; they tried to generate a distinct, unadulterated people that resembles only itself.' 1930's National Socialist race laws? No, a monk, Rudolf of Fulda writing in a commentary on Tacitus's Germania in 835AD. Germany of course until 1871 was not a country, it was a feeling, a longing. This one book of less than thirty pages by the Roman historian Tacitus, about a place he had never visited was meant as a commentary on a region, some of whose traits such as loyalty and probity he admired. However, there was no tribe of Germans, no… Read more
It is perhaps hard to credit that in the late 19th century supposedly at the height of Britain's imperial might, there was such anxiety about decline and the state of the nation, the industrial challenge from Germany and the USA, the naval building programme that Tirpitz had initiated and the poor performance in the Boer War that Churchill made a comment to Asquith that 'Germany is prepared for war and prepared for peace, Britain is only prepared for party politics.'
The tragedy and human cost of WW1, together with the political corruption of Lloyd George; seeming betrayal of the soldiers returning from the war; fear of the Bolshevik threat transferring itself and continual… Read more
Lets get the housekeeping out of the way first. This is a very in-depth study of the subject that requires a reasonable knowledge of both the period, political background in both countries and the more prominent political and cultural figures. It is not a book for the beginner. Having said that, it is written without pretence, in clear, straightforward prose and without any attempt either to talk down to the reader or use language that does not make either the subject or the arguments comprehensible.
The book is broken down into three chronological sections studying political relations between 1860-1880, 1880-1906 and then the deteriorating period prior to WW1. Interspersed… Read more
