勃蘭登堡-普魯士這個位於日耳曼北部，四面強敵環伺的蕞爾小邦， 何以能夠在短短數代之間，搖身變為稱霸一方的歐陸強權，一直是歐 洲史的重要課題之一。 「鐵血宰相」俾斯麥藉以推動德國統一的普魯士王國，在十七世紀時僅是神聖羅馬帝國境內的一個選侯國。西鄰太陽王路易十四統治的法國，北接軍事強國瑞典，東方則面臨俄羅斯帝國的野心覬覦。而領地的分散與資源有限，以及神聖羅馬帝國皇帝的不信任，更使得勃蘭登堡- 普魯士一直處於勢如危卵的險困局面。經過霍亨索倫家族的幾代明君務實的經營，建立了強大武力及龐大的軍政官僚體系，藉著一連串的外交捭闔與巧取豪奪，終至取代奧地利而成為中 歐強權，也為日後德國的統一奠立了殷實的基礎。

Of the "Great Powers" that dominated Europe from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, Prussia is the only one to have vanished ..."Iron Kingdom" is not just good: it is everything a history book ought to be ...The nemesis of Prussia has cast such a long shadow that German historians have tiptoed around the subject. Thus it was left to an Englishman to write what is surely...(展开全部)

克里斯托弗·克拉克（Christopher Clark）,剑桥大学圣凯瑟琳学院现代欧洲史教授，著名历史学家，澳大利亚人文学院院士。曾于2007年英国历史学界殊荣“沃尔夫森历史奖”。2015年6月，因对英德关系研究做出了突出贡献，克拉克经英国外交大臣举荐，被授予爵士头衔。著有《梦游者》《钢铁帝国》等好评如潮的历史作品。

Of the "Great Powers" that dominated Europe from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, Prussia is the only one to have vanished ..."Iron Kingdom" is not just good: it is everything a history book ought to be ...The nemesis of Prussia has cast such a long shadow that German historians have tiptoed around the subject. Thus it was left to an Englishman to write what is surely...(展开全部)

克里斯托弗·克拉克（Christopher Clark）,剑桥大学圣凯瑟琳学院现代欧洲史教授，著名历史学家，澳大利亚人文学院院士。曾于2007年英国历史学界殊荣“沃尔夫森历史奖”。2015年6月，因对英德关系研究做出了突出贡献，克拉克经英国外交大臣举荐，被授予爵士头衔。著有《梦游者》《钢铁帝国》等好评如潮的历史作品。

The magnificent conclusion to one of the greatest science fiction sagas of our time The time of reckoning has arrived. As a final genocidal Crusade threatens to enslave humanity forever, a new messiah has come of age. She is Aenea and she has undergone a strange apprenticeship to those known as the Others. Now her protector, Raul Endymion, one-time shepherd and convicted murder...(展开全部)

Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, dominated the 18th century in the same way that Napoleon dominated the start of the 19th - a force of nature, a caustic, ruthless, brilliant military commander, a monarch of exceptional energy and talent, and a knowledgeable patron of artists, architects and writers, most famously Voltaire. From early in his reign he was already a legendary...(展开全部)

Forty-seven years ago the Allies Control Council produced the final obsequies of a state which 'from its earliest days had been a bearer of militarism and reaction in Germany'. With this laconic text, Prussia, with its near millennium of history as one of the frontier states of Christian Europe, was cast onto the dung-heap. To many contemporaries, the gesture had a futile ring ...(展开全部)

Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, dominated the 18th century in the same way that Napoleon dominated the start of the 19th - a force of nature, a caustic, ruthless, brilliant military commander, a monarch of exceptional energy and talent, and a knowledgeable patron of artists, architects and writers, most famously Voltaire. From early in his reign he was already a legendary...(展开全部)

Michael Young has christened the oligarchy of the future “Meritocracy.” Indeed, the word is now part of the English language. It would appear that the formula: IQ+Effort=Merit may well constitute the basic belief of the ruling class in the twenty-first century. Projecting himself into the year 2034, the author of this sociological satire shows how present decisions and practice...(展开全部)