Historians have blamed it on the weakness of Elector George William, but Clark insists that he was faced with a 'structural' challenge that would weigh on many future Berlin governments, which also found themselves 'stranded between the fronts' of Europe's conflicting powers. The extortion, slaughter and torment introduced by the warring armies as they swept back and forth would be remembered for centuries. Things were interrupted by the thirty years war (1618-48), when the German lands became the site of devastating conflict between the Habsburg emperor and Protestant forces that included Denmark, Sweden, Spain and France. Though far from powerful in that early period, the Hohenzollerns held Brandenburg together, avoiding break-up and partition at moments of succession, maintaining their neutrality in surrounding disputes, and introducing Protestant reformation at a tactfully gradual pace. In 1417 the territory, which constituted one of seven electorates of the Holy Roman Empire, was bought by Frederick Hohenzollern, who established himself as Frederick I. He is also the author of Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power.Landlocked and without defensible frontiers, medieval Brandenburg hardly seemed predestined to become 'the heartland of a powerful European state'. 'Exemplary … an illuminating, profoundly satisfying work of history'Ĭhristopher Clark is a lecturer in Modern European History at St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge. 'A magisterial history of Europe's only extinct power' 'You couldn't have the triumph and the tragedy of Prussia better told' 'A terrific book … the definitive history of this much-maligned state' 'Fascinating … masterly … littered with intriguing detail and wry observation'

With great flair and authority, Christopher Clark describes Prussia's great battles, dynastic marriages and astonishing reversals of fortune, its brilliant and charismatic leaders from the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg to Bismarck and Frederick the Great, the military machine and the progressive, enlightened values on which it was built. Prussia began as a medieval backwater, but transformed itself into a major European power and the force behind the creation of the German empire, until it was finally abolished by the Allies after the Second World War.

Winner of the Wolfson History Prize, Christopher Clark's Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600–1947 is a compelling account of a country that played a pivotal role in Europe's fortunes and fundamentally shaped our world.

Christopher clark prussia