Iron and Blood

<b>Peter H. Wilson</b> is the author of the highly acclaimed <i>Europe's Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years War </i>(2009) and <i>The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History</i> (2016). He is the Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford. <p><i>Iron and Blood </i>is a startlingly ambitious and absorbing book encompassing five centuries of political military technological and economic change to tell the story of the German-speaking lands from the Rhine to the Balkan frontier from Switzerland to the North Sea. Wilson's narrative considers everything from weapons development to recruitment to battlefield strategy.<br><br>Germans' military impact on the rest of Europe has been immense. If there is one constant it has been the sense of being beset by seemingly more powerful enemies - France or Russia or Turkey - and the need to strike a rapid knockout blow to ensure a favourable result. Almost inevitably this has in practice meant protracted relentless and often unwinnable wars and - in 1939-1945 - moral catastrophe.<br><br>The author of definitive books on the Holy Roman Empire and the Thirty Years War Peter Wilson has with <i>Iron and Blood </i>written his masterpiece.</p> The scholarship of this book is breathtaking [and] Wilson relates it with a command of his subject that is unparalleled. <b>No one interested in the history of Europe and of the Germans in particular can afford not to read this stupendous book.</b> <b>Endlessly fascinating</b> ... History has returned to Europe and <i>Iron and Blood</i> is an excellent place to start getting reacquainted with it. <b>Hugely impressive</b> ... By setting his account in the broader context of European history Wilson launches a sustained attack on the teleological Prussocentrism of the traditional story. <i>Iron and Blood </i>delves into politics economics technology and social developments. Its long view of Germany's military history <b>magisterial detail and acute analysis provide a new understanding of what was once Europe's warring heart.</b> <b>Ambitious</b> ... While Germany cannot leave its past behind it can learn from it if it dares to look ... <i>Iron and Blood</i> is <b>a timely book</b> arguing powerfully that 'German history should not be read backwards'. <b>Formidably erudite</b> ... What is now Germany's shameful past was once Adolf Hitler's vision of the future. Reimagined by Vladimir Putin that spectral vision now haunts our present. Hence the <b>importance and urgency </b>of Wilson's investigation. <b>A work of first-rate scholarship ... will become the starting point for all students of military history</b> not only of Germany but of Europe as a whole. <b>An ambitious book which was badly needed </b>... illuminating on the complicated relationship between Prussia both state and society and its army .... <b>required reading for serious military historians.</b> <p><b>There is much to admire in this book</b> from the astounding breadth of its scholarship<br>to its exceedingly ambitious scope ... a fresh perspective on German history.</p> <p><b>A<i> DAILY TELEGRAPH </i>BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022</b><br><br><b>'No one interested in the history of Europe can afford not to read this stupendous book' Simon Heffer <i>Daily Telegraph</i><br><br>'Endlessly fascinating</b> <b>... History has returned to Europe and <i>Iron and Blood</i> is an excellent place to start getting reacquainted with it' <i>The Times</i></b><br><br><i>Iron and Blood </i>is a startlingly ambitious and absorbing book encompassing five centuries of political military technological and economic change to tell the story of the German-speaking lands from the Rhine to the Balkan frontier from Switzerland to the North Sea. Wilson's narrative considers everything from weapons development to recruitment to battlefield strategy.<br><br>Germans' military impact on the rest of Europe has been immense. If there is one constant it has been the sense of being beset by seemingly more powerful enemies - France or Russia or Turkey - and the need to strike a rapid knockout blow to ensure a favourable result. Almost inevitably this has in practice meant protracted relentless and often unwinnable wars and - in 1939-1945 - moral catastrophe.<br><br>The author of definitive books on the Holy Roman Empire and the Thirty Years War Peter Wilson has with <i>Iron and Blood </i>written his masterpiece.<br><br><b>'Hugely impressive' Richard J. Evans<i> Times Literary Supplement</i></b></p>