Germany in the Age of Kaiser Wilhelm II
James Retallack
Studies in European History are designed to present the “state of the debate” on important themes and episodes in European history in a clear and critical way for students. Each book carries its own interpretations and conclusions, while locating the discussion firmly in the centre of the current issues as historians see them.
Opinion
“A very readable and remarkably concise introduction.”
— Professor Roger Chickering
Center for German and
European Studies, Georgetown University,
USA
“... [A]n admirably clear, level-headed and well-informed guide. ... [A]n indispensable aid to anyone wishing to inform themselves about recent and future developments in this field.”
— Professor Richard J. Evans
Gonville & Caius
College, Cambridge
“Retallack’s ability to integrate so many complex debates and concepts into his portrayal of Wilhelmine Germany is perhaps the most impressive aspect of this book. … Retallack introduces the reader to concepts (such as socio-moral milieu, cleavage, political culture, the public sphere, the primacy of foreign policy), to methodologies (like the new cultural history) and to relatively new fields (such as gender and sexuality or Bürgertum studies). In each case complex ideas are made simple and clearly related to the work of individual historians and to the study of Wilhelmine Germany as a whole. …
[T]he ability of … Retallack to combine all the classic virtues of a text-book with more sophisticated historical reflection commands deep respect. It is one thing to write clearly and comprehensively about complex issues. It is another—and far more difficult—thing to use the exercise as a way of exploring the nature of historical change and the historical process itself.”
— Dr. Abigail Green, Brasenose College, Oxford,
in German
History, vol. 17, no. 3 (1999): 428-30.
This information is provided by the Department of History at the
University of Toronto.
All contents (c) 2001-2002 James
Retallack and the University of Toronto.
All rights reserved.
Last Updated: 5 September 2002.