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Within a couple of decades Kaiser Wilhelm II had led the German Reich into World War and collapse.How did the Kaiser come to have so much power?Using new archival sources, this book analyzes the Kaiser and the nature of his rule.After an original character sketch of the Kaiser, the book then examines the Kaiser's friends and favorites, the neo-absolutist culture of the court and of Berlin society, and the nature of his relationship with the court and with the administrative corps in Prussia and the Reich.A final chapter reveals for the first time the extent of the exiled Kaiser's anti-Semitism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Very academic.... very.... very
If you are a scholar and like lots and lots of references to peruse, you might like this book.However, if you are somebody who enjoys reading history in a non-academic form, you might find this book mind-numbingly boring.I could barely get through the first 100 pages and pretty much gave up after that. I love history and am always looking for great stories; this isn't one of them.

Good!!
Professor John Röhl of the University of Sussex has written extensively on Wilhelmine Germany, including his collection of essay entitled The Kaiser and his Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany (1994). Röhl asserts that Wilhelm has for many years "been marginalized by professional German historians," who viewed the Kaiser as one "who played no part in shaping the policies of the Kaiserrreich."Other scholars have depicted him as "an aggressive autocrat who must bear a large degree of responsibility for plunging Old Europe into war and catastrophe." (xi)Regarding Wilhelm and the Great War, Röhl implies that his influence was negligible.The Kaiser was never a "full-scale" autocrat, and while he perhaps "dreamed of establishing absolute rule for himself...it remained no more than a dream."Röhl contends that this was particularly true in terms of military power, of which the emperor had very little. (3)However, Röhl shows that the Kaiser was not uninvolved in Germany's diplomatic and military decision-making process, notably at the start of the war.He cites Wilhelm's influence in the rejection of Britain's generous peace proposal in 1912, a move supported by his chancellor, Bethmann Hollweg, and one which might have forestalled war altogether. (6)
For Röhl, the Kaiser's involvement in the Great War was heavily influenced by his personality.Wilhelm "never matured," and was seen as a child-like figure at army headquarters.This trait was coupled with a "notorious overestimation of his own abilities, and a refusal to accept constructive criticism.To emphasize the emperor's requirement that he be at center stage at all times, Röhl repeats the apposite bon mot that Wilhelm "insisted on being the stag at every hunt, the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral." (11-13) These qualities did little to endear himself to senior military officers and worked to push the Kaiser to the sidelines of decision making as the war intensified.Röhl holds that Wilhelm's public and private antics brought much scorn down upon himself and the German monarchy as a whole.He opines that
the history of the last hundred years," he opines, "has shown that a monarchy in a modern state can only hope to survive if it restricts itself firmly to its purely representational functions and avoids making any political comment and exerting any influence.That Wilhelm II did precisely the opposite is a matter of embarrassing record. (104)

Röhl concludes that Wilhelm's role in the formation of Germany policies was not insignificant before the war, particularly with regard to the turn-of-the-century naval armaments race with Great Britain, and in the domestic arena-though he was "vulnerable to manipulation by his generals and his military entourage." (166)By late 1914, Röhldeclares, Wilhelm's influence began to wane, though the awareness by military leaders of which plans, people or policies the emperor would and would not support acted as "a blocking mechanism," a fact which indicates that the Kaiser could not be completely ignored. (116)Indeed, Röhl reminds his readers that "not a single appointment to an official position, and no political measure, could be undertaken without the express consent of the Kaiser." (117)

Misleading title
Do not expect to read much about Kaiser Wilhelm II in this book.The title is quite misleading---it is about the era of Wilhelm, but few details about him are included here, esp. his role in WWI.

provides insight into the government of Wilhelmine Germany
This book is a very interesting look into the theory and practice of government under Wilhelm II - particularly in those years of "personal rule" after the dismissal of Bismarck from the chancellorship. The book is essentially a collection of essays devoted to various issues involving the Kaiser and his government. So while it is not structured like a conventional history of this era, or a biography of the Kaiser, an abundance of historical and biographical information is presented.

I enjoyed this book very much - it is very well-written and was a pleasure to read. I think anyone interested in this period of German/European history will find reading this book well worth the effort.

Important Information
This book talks about Wilhem II, and his court in Germany. It also speaks about the hatred that he had toward Jewish People. The book is very interesting, and it sets the record straight on alot of things. This bookis a must! ... Read more

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A New York Times bestseller, The Conquerors reveals how Franklin Roosevelt's and Harry Truman's private struggles with their aides and Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin affected the unfolding of the Holocaust and the fate of vanquished Nazi Germany.

With monumental fairness and balance, The Conquerors shows how Roosevelt privately refused desperate pleas to speak out directly against the Holocaust, to save Jewish refugees and to explore the possible bombing of Auschwitz to stop the killing. The book also shows FDR's fierce will to ensure that Germany would never threaten the world again. Near the end of World War II, he abruptly endorsed the secret plan of his friend, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, to reduce the Germans to a primitive existence -- despite Churchill's fear that crushing postwar Germany would let the Soviets conquer the continent. The book finally shows how, after FDR's death, President Truman rebelled against Roosevelt's tough approach and adopted the Marshall Plan and other more conciliatory policies that culminated in today's democratic, united Europe.Amazon.com Review
Long before an Allied victory was assured during World War II, the Big Three--Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin--began discussing how to prevent Germany from ever again threatening the world. The fact that Germany today is a peaceful, democratic ally of the U.S. is "one of America's great twentieth-century international achievements," writes esteemed historian Michael Beschloss. How such a transformation was accomplished is the subject of The Conquerors.

Drawing on thousands of previously unreleased documents, secret audio recordings, private diaries, and other information recently made available, Beschloss details the complex diplomacy between the Allied leaders, including their differences over whether to demand Germany's unconditional surrender; how, if at all, to divide Germany after the war; and how to effectively punish Germany without creating the kind of resentment that led to the rise of Hitler. The relationship between the three leaders, and later, Truman, is fascinating, as Beschloss reveals private conversations, ulterior motives, and numerous back-channel deals that took place. Of particular interest is the maneuvering of Roosevelt and Churchill, who were both concerned that the Soviets would attempt a postwar power grab in Western Europe if given the chance. The book also deals with Roosevelt's reluctance to deal with Germany's systematic extermination of the Jews, and the role that his old friend and Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., played in pushing the President into action. After learning of the Holocaust, Morgenthau became obsessed with punishing Germany severely, drafting a plan that called for the complete destruction of their mines and factories as a way of forcing Germany into subsistence farming--ideas that put him at odds with Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, and many others in the administration.

The Conquerors is a superbly written, if brief, treatment of the political events leading up to the defeat of Germany, with the main players brought vividly to life by Beschloss's keen eye for detail and his ability to expose the human strengths and weaknesses of the participants. --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Customer Reviews (94)

How Allies planned for post-war world
Thoroughly researched, sturdily written history of how Roosevelt and then Truman planned to deal with a defeated Germany after World War II.

Nothing earth shattering, but interesting and detailed insight into how policy got made and how it could have gotten made worse.

Also of interest is discussion of Roosevelt's silence on the developing Holocaust as news seeped out to a stunned and horrified world.

What happened?
Any book about WWII, American History, and U.S. Presidents is an automatic read for me because they are my favorite subjects.That is why I am still perplexed about how Mr. Beschloss could have messed this one up.The story is told from people's points of view rather than independent investigation.I stopped reading about a quarter way through and passed it on.

The Not So Private War of Henry Morgenthau
Michael Beschloss's study of the Allied management of the end of World War II with Nazi Germany serves as a reminder that things are not always as obvious as they seem. At first glance the goal of hostilities in Europe could easily be summed up as the defeat of Hitler and Nazi Germany's Axis allies. But how does one define "defeat?" Is it territorial annihilation, Sherman to the Sea on a more massive scale? Is it discredit or even elimination of the warring military leadership? Is it national humiliation? Or is it business as usual in the conquered territories under Allied overlords, as would be the case of Japan?

This work is the story of how the United States, in concert with its allies, gestated its final plans for the conquest of Germany. One naturally gravitates toward Franklin D. Roosevelt as the leading man for such a drama, but in truth this book, like the events themselves, pivots around the persona of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. That Morgenthau was Jewish, one of few of his faith to achieve such status to that time, adds poignancy to the tale. Beschloss describes Morgenthau as perhaps Roosevelt's closest friend in the cabinet, a bond developed over their years together as neighboring self-styled gentlemen farmers in Dutchess County, NY. Despite Morgenthau's perceptions and desires, it was not exactly a friendship of equals. As was his wont, Roosevelt managed his communications with Morgenthau in the ethereal fashion of all his working associates. In truth Morgenthau enjoyed cabinet status because of difficulties Roosevelt had encountered earlier with the scrutinies of more independent men in the Treasury, Dean Acheson among them.

His affection for Roosevelt notwithstanding, Morgenthau felt a particular responsibility to Jews under persecution in Nazi occupied territory. Early in the conflict Morgenthau had focused upon relocation of Jews from Germany and elsewhere, but as the War unfolded and the scope of atrocities became gradually evident to policy makers, Morgenthau pressured Roosevelt to make rescue of Jews a major priority during the engagement. Such considerations collided with concurrent Cabinet debate about the status and treatment of postwar Germany. This was not a matter of hawks and doves as much as a question of priorities. Instinctually, most policy makers wanted a hard peace for both military and punitive reasons. The question was how much of Germany's industrial infrastructure to destroy or spare in response to its crimes, a critical matter as 1944 hurried into 1945.

By 1944 Winston Churchill had his fill of German militarism and would gladly have endorsed a Shermanesque solution to the German problem. Living through his second major encounter with the German military machine, he advocated utter annihilation of the nation's infrastructure, including its factories in the Ruhr Valley. Joseph Stalin, ever fearful of his west flank, would easily come around to Churchill's position as well, motivated not only by a will to survive but an opportunity to expand Communist hegemony.

Morgenthau, despite his closeness to Roosevelt, was gradually losing place in the Cabinet. His peers believed that his Jewish faith and priorities blinded him to other military, political, and economic issues that worried them, and with reason. Beschloss makes splendid use of official minutes and private diaries to trace the strategic shifting going on around Roosevelt--insights into the concerns and motivations of Henry Stimson, Cordell Hull, and particularly John McCloy, who at the end of the day would probably do the most to derail Morgenthau's postwar vision.

Roosevelt's 1944 Quebec meeting with Churchill, with Morgenthau in attendance, convinced the latter--wrongly, as it would turn out--that his boss and the Prime Minister were solidly behind his call for a hard and vengeful peace, the Morgenthau Plan. He returned home entirely justified, so much so that he felt emboldened to steer certain aspects of his peace plan toward the Washington Post, with added hints of opposition among certain cabinet members. The fallout from public disclosure ignited massive political difficulties in nearly every quarter. Joseph Goebbels jumped upon Morgenthau's plan as evidence that Allied strategic planning was aimed at reducing Germany to the stone ages. Morgenthau was blamed for stiffening German resistance and costing American lives. Thomas Dewey, then running for president in the 1944 campaign, jumped upon the strategy ["as useful as ten fresh German divisions"] and the now apparent disarray of the cabinet. Roosevelt distanced himself from the plan and from its author Morgenthau, a painful and humiliating blow for the latter. Mercifully, Morgenthau was unaware at the time that his own closest confidant, Henry Dexter White, was a Russian spy.

The Battle of the Bulge, reported by American intelligence sources as a German response to the Morgenthau Plan, was probably the last straw that ended his influence upon conduct of the war. But other factors were weighing heavily upon the Allies. As western armies began crossing into Germany itself, the enormous damage already wrought upon the country's substructure made it clear that economic chaos and starvation were very likely at the conclusion of hostilities. All parties to the conflict, and notably England, were heavily in debt. The idea of a post-war German welfare state worried the international business community [except, ironically, America's own chief treasury officer.] To destroy the existing mines and factories of the Ruhr Valley, for example, seemed less and less desirable. In addition, growing concern in England and the United States about Russian post-war ambitions led to a grudging recognition that Germany could not be entirely demilitarized.

On the other hand, Germany's heinous crimes of the half-century called for an appropriate response. Beschloss captures the dilemma of policy makers, torn between pragmatic and humanitarian concerns in the partition, punishment, and reorganization of Germany. The author presents his well researched account in a style marked by intimacy, immediacy and movement. He gives us another vantage point of the War. Assuming that we know something of how it was fought, Beschloss explains how it was ended--and how it could have ended.

Lacking substance
I was quite disappointed in this book. The first 3/4 seem to be spent as Henry Morgentheau vs. Everybody in the Roosevelt Administration, and all it is how Roosevelt can't decide or won't commit on the Morgentheau plan while everybody else tries to persuade him otherwise.It picks up a little when Truman takes over, but not a great deal.It has enlightened me as to how all of this unfolded, but, in my opinion, could have been much better.I don't know if there's a better alternative.

A great read
Reading this book made me understand more about the complex war Roosevelt fought, against not only Germany, but also his own supporters and allies.Recommended. ... Read more

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Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany provides a succinct and provocative introduction to Italian fascism and German nazism. Incorporating recent historical research together with original and challenging arguments, Alexander J. De Grand examines:
* the similarities and differences in the early development of the two regimes
* the exercise of power by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini
* the relationship between the two regimes
* policies towards women, youth and culture.

Revised throughout, the second edition of this respected book takes account of recent historical research and includes an expanded discussion of the role of the military in the two regimes. ... Read more

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German Jews faced harsh dilemmas in their responses to Nazi persecution, partly a result of Nazi cruelty and brutality but also a result of an understanding of their history and rightful place in Germany. Their gradual pauperization, the imposed separation from the larger society and culture of their native Germany, and the consequent humiliation and isolation were bitter blows. This volume addresses the impact of the anti-Jewish policies of Hitler's regime on Jewish family life, Jewish women, and the existence of Jewish organizations and institutions and considers some of the Jewish responses to Nazi anti-Semitism and persecution. The contributors have produced a volume that offers scholars, students, and interested readers a highly accessible but focused introduction to Jewish life under National Socialism, the often painful dilemmas that it produced, and the varied Jewish responses to those dilemmas. ... Read more

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Winner of the 1996 Leo Gershoy Award given by the American Historical AssociationWinner of the 1996 Berkshire Prize

"With great intellectual energy and resourcefulness, [Hull] has placed a new set of issues on our scholarly agenda. After reading Sexuality, State, and Civil Society in Germany, 1700-1815, no one will view this period in quite the same way again."--James H. Sheehan, Times Literary Supplement

"Hull analyzes the evolving bureaucratic understanding of heterosexuality during the transition from absolutist moral regulation of sexual practices for the public good to the formation of a bourgeois civil society of privacy and property. . . . [She] offers a remarkable look at the sexual dimension of the liberal social contract and at those whose sexual liberty was assured thereby."--Choice

"Isabel Hull's book is a very rich study, not only in detail and scope, but also in its theoretical implications--for the development of modern ideas of sexuality, for the development of civil society, and for the role of the state in regulating sexual matters of all types. It is bold, risky, often funny, elegant in its argument, beautifully written--and speaks to an audience far beyond its likely specialist readers."--from the Berkshire Prize citation ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful Fusion of Empirical Research and Theory
In Sexuality, State, and Civil Society in Germany, Isabel V. Hull argues that the philosophical and legal arguments surrounding sexuality, in terms of what were legal and illegal, moral and immoral, sexual relations, was a key element to the development of political identities in post-enlightenment Germany. She draws most of her evidence from various Bavarian legal codes, as well as the writings of influential thinkers, such as Johann van Justi and Immanual Kant and political reformers like Anselm Feuerbach and Napoleon. Using these sources, Hull concludes that the legal codes as well as the social pressure exuded by a burgeoning civil society formed a conceptualization of citizenship that was based on heterosexual relations within marriage. In effect, Hull's book demonstrates that rather than existing in separate social and analytical sphere, sexuality was fundamentally connected to political issues. While her prime interest is the relationship between sexuality and politics, her secondary arguments are just as important. In analyzing local and national laws and practices, Hull concludes that the 18th century was not a period of institutional centralization; local governments on the municipal and provincial level were still permitted considerable leeway in enforcing and developing the policies that regulated their populations. Also, she collapses the distinction between a public and a private sphere, arguing that especially when considering the importance of bedroom behavior to political matters, the private was public and vice versa. In this case she is directly challenging Jurgen Habermas' early theoretical distinction between the public and private. Additionally, she cites the growth of a civil society that pressured the official domain of the state as a key step in Germany's overall political transformation. Hull argues that the civil society's dissoanate voice debated and shaped enlightenment- inspired ideas, especially those regarding sexuality and citizenship.
In making her argument, Hull builds on some of the theoretical models advanced by Michel Foucault in the History of Sexuality Vol. 1. Firstly, she refutes the notion of sexual repression during the era, presenting the various debates surrounding masturbation, the sexual nature of men and women, as well as "deviant" sexual behavior (homosexuality, bestiality etc) as clear evidence that bedroom behavior was a primary subject of a larger public/political debate on citizenship.Moreover, Hull presents the legal/philosophical debates surrounding sexuality and gendered as serving the same "rationalizing" function in German society as scientia sexualis that, according to Foucault, legitimated the discussion and exploration of sexuality throughout the western world during the supposedly "repressed" Victorian era. However, while she clearly utilizes post-modern theoretical models, Hull is not ready to give up the conscious subject as a major factor in the development of gendered sexual/political standards. One of the key turning points in her narrative occurs when legislators and thinkers recognized that is was virtually impossible to police behavior, legal and illegal, in the bedchamber and thus actively shifted their regulatory ambitions to the one public sexual act: marriage. ... Read more

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This book presents empirical research on the nature and structure of political violence.While most studies of social movements focus on single-nation studies, Donatella della Porta uses a comparative research design to analyze movements in two countries--Italy and Germany--from the 1960s to the 1990s.Through extensive use of official documents and in-depth interviews, della Porta is able to explain the actors' construction of external political reality, and to build a theory on political violence that synthesizes the various interactions among political actors. ... Read more

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A significant new look at the legacy of the Nazi regime, this book exposes the workings of past beliefs and political interests on how-and how differently-the two Germanys have recalled the crimes of Nazism, from the anti-Nazi emigration of the 1930s through the establishment of a day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism in 1996. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Lopsided but still useful
Professor Herf's attempt to deal with the memory of Nazism in the former halves of Germany gives too much whitewash to the West and lays too much tar on the East.The underlying theme seems to be which half did most to support Israel in the cold war, than who actually came to grips with the legacy of Nazism in postwar Germany.

Herf would have us believe that Adenauer opened the door to reparations and reconsiliation in West Germany; yet by Herf's own description Adenauer weathered the Nazi regime pretty well, protected by his fellow conservatives who actually ran the Nazi state on a daily basis after 1934.At no time did he speak out against Nazi barbarities in Germany or abroad. These favors were reciprocated when ex-Nazis needed peace and shelter after the war and found it under his wing.Adenauer came into brief conflict with Nazidom only after 20 July 1944, when like many nationalists he tried saving the German state from Hitler's sinking ship.The postwar public honors for the executed military conspirators proved no barrier to rehabiliating their executioners as a condition for creating the Bundeswehr.Chancellor Kohl's subsequent disgraceful performance at Bitburg, in a rising tide of nationalist self-justification, shows that it was the West's anti-establishment critics who truly pushed the Holocaust issue forward in West German public life.

The East was deserving of criticism also, as anti-Zionism was a back door through which some former Nazis could find a nest in the "anti-fascist state."But conflating the GDR's anti-Israel policy with attitudes to the Holocaust slights the fact that most unrepentant ex-Nazis, blood on their hands or not, found their most congenial shelter in the West, to resume their business and professional careers unruffled by de-Nazification.The West's "coming to terms with the Nazi legacy" had more to do with American influence and cold war alliances and the rise of Holocaust consciousness in the general western consensus than any true coming to grips with the roots of Nazism in German society.

While this work does have useful information on postwar German society, its loaded emphasis on the failings of the East, and its willingness to buy West German public pieties at face value, marks it as a work of the cold war era than of post-Nazi memory.

Useful work on an under-explored topic
A previous view has mischaracterized this work as one that deals with attitudes toward Israel.

The primary purpose of this book is the role of the Holocaust in memory among the respective West and East German elites following World War II. It is not a broader work on social history, which one could argue needs to be done, but criticizing someone for the book he didn't write is misplaced.

Herff's arguments center around the coming to grips with the Holocaust in politics in the two German states. He asserts, correctly, that East German leaders chose to adopt the Marxist line that WWII was a fascist war, and the Holocaust a product of fascism rather than racism. The leaders did so in order to portray the installed Stalinist state as the legitimate government in eastern Germany and being utterly disconnected from the Nazis. The result was a whitewashing of historical memory, portraying Jews and other minorities as virtual martyrs of the East German state.

Herff further argues, and places blame, on West German leaders for failing to engage the Holocaust. However, he points out that Karl Adenauers efforts to engage conservatives on this issue was a forward-thinking move, and ultimately salvaged West Germany on this issue.

Ultimately, the issue of the two Germanys and Israel has to do with the evolution of historical memory rather than philo-semitism or philo-nazism.

This book will be useful for those seeking to understand the role of memory in WWII and the Cold War.

Simplistic and simply wrong
Herf applies a very simplistic test to determine the Nazification of both Germanies: did they side with Israel in the Middle East version of the Cold War or did they not? The trial against Paul Merker in the East, which had as its background East Germany's reluctance to pay reparations to expropriated Jews, serves as his prime evidence for the continuation of things Nazi in the GDR. But both of these arguments completely ignore the Marxist ideology underlieing the rationale of the East German leadership and bypass more complicated issues of political allegiance. Moreover, they totally eclipse the East German cultural discourse on the Holocaust, a discourse that was decades ahead of discussions in the West and still proves to be more sophisticated than most that is being written in Western academia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Organization is a Problem
The textbook contains a great deal of relevant basic information on politics in Western Europe. Unfortunately, it needs to be better organized. This goes for the organization of chapters and organization within the chapters. I used it in my Western European Politics class, but students did not respond favorably. The textbook sometimes picks up a topic without any obvious reason for doing so, and then, having said a few sentences about it, leaves it off, also without any obvious reason. This makes individual chapters hard to follow.

A good introductory text
For those who teach European politics, their students, and those who wish to gain a basic understanding of the topic, this text is quite nicely done. Each country section - including the EU - is about 80-100 pages long. Whilegood for those who are new to the topic, it doesn't bore those who aren't.It's one of the better textbooks I've found on the subject, and I will useit in my class. ... Read more

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This is an inspiring look at how new 'alternative energy' policies are leading the way in the fight against the global energy crisis. The looming threat of global warming may be the greatest long-term challenge of the modern age. "Switching to Solar" is an inspiring and optimistic story of a green revolution in the making, exploring how the unrelenting efforts of a small band of grassroots activists have discovered ways to turn solar into a practical retail energy solution. The crucial driver for the adoption of solar energy is not technology, but policy. Focusing on initiatives in Germany, it describes the use of 'feed-in tariffs' - where those producing excess energy from solar sell to energy companies - as the most successful mechanism for driving the widespread deployment of solar energy. ... Read more

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This study analyzes the European Union's history-making reforms in 1985 and 1991, from a realist point of view, focusing on the role of Germany and France. Stressing the prominent role of Germany in Europe's constitutive politics, the text argues that the EU is less a sign of the abandonment of power politics than the product of a new "soft" great power strategy typical of comparatively weak regional big powers. The analysis of the Intergovernmental Conferences is placed in a longer historical perspective and embedded in an overall interpretation of the role of big powers in processes of regional integration. The book thus develops a theory of co-operative hegemony and symmetrical federalization. ... Read more

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Friedman's study is a comprehensive and definitive work on a little known aspect of German-Turkish-Zionist relations, and complements his previous book, the Question of Palestine. ... Read more

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Herzl, Germany and Zionism,1897-1918
Germany, Turkey, Zionism, 1897-1918, by Isaiah Friedman, is an extremely readable history of the Zionist movement -- its earliest beginnings and its efforts to establish Jewish settlements in Palestine. Written for scholars,it is packed full of extensive and definitive documentary references anddirect quotations. All sources are meticulously produced so that thehistorian can refer to primary documents, both published and unpublished.I am not, however, a scholar, but simply someone who is interested inthis period of Middle Eastern history. My primary focus is on thereadability and the "story," as well as the integrity of theinformation. Prof. Friedman's book provides all three aspects.Inaddition to a very accessible rendering of the more known historical facts,Prof. Friedman's book also provides a great deal of new and and previouslyunpublished information about the efforts of Herzl to maneuver the Europeanpowers into supporting Zionist settlements in Palestine as a "solutionto the problem of anti-Semitism" in Europe. Following these surprisingrevelations is the fact that it was Germany, of all the nations of theworld, that most strongly supported Zionist settlement in Palestine andrepresented the Zionist views to the Turkish government. The ins and outsof the negotiations and behind-the-scenes maneuvers and personaljustifications of the political figures of the day make this book afascinating read for anyone who appreciates the happy combination ofattention to detail and an excellent tale -- all the better because it ishistorical fact. Germany, Turkey, Zionism, 1897-1918 has recently beenreissued by Transaction, and has a new introduction by the author. Iloved the book and recommend it to anyone who is interested in the historyof the complicated events that continue to evolve in modern-day Israel andthe adjacent areas that made up Palestine under the Ottomans. ... Read more

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In recent years governments have increasingly given their central banks the freedom to pursue policies of price stability. In particular, the German Bundesbank and the U.S. Federal Reserve have been widely considered models of autonomous policymaking. This book traces the origins of their success to the political struggle to adopt monetarism in Germany and the United States.

The Government of Money contends that the political involvement of monetarist economists was central to this endeavor. The book examines the initiatives undertaken by monetarists from 1970 to 1985 and the policies that resulted once their ideas were enacted. Taking a historical approach to major issues of political economy, Peter A. Johnson describes both the political efforts of the monetarist economists to convert central banks to their preferred policies and the resistance offered by traditionalist central bankers, politicians, and financial and labor interests.

Johnson concludes that monetarist ideas succeeded in part because their supporters convincingly claimed that price stability would promote political stability. He thereby challenges important assumptions about politics and policymaking in both countries and reveals the often hidden influence of monetary policy on the health of capitalist democracies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A wonderful and timely read
In a time where the words of Alan Greenspan affect the lives (and wallets) of millions of Americans, this book brings the politics of the Fed to life for the everyday reader, and presents a comparison with the German centralbank (the Bundesbank), where it seems that decisions are made in a muchmore collegial matter than the U.S. Federal Reserve, where one man candictate the sway of markets. The book is accessible to academics andnon-academics alike, and is about as sexy as a book about the politics ofbanks can get. Overall, it's a must-read for anyone interested in thepolitics of money, from scholars to daytraders. ... Read more

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Germany Foreign Policy and Government Guide ... Read more