The Three Lives of the Kaiser

The Three Lives of the Kaiser
Author: Uli Hesse
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2023-05-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1471189112

Franz Beckenbauer – known as ‘the Kaiser’ – was Germany's greatest-ever footballer and one of the game's biggest icons of all time, a World Cup winner as player and manager. But what is often described as a blessed life was in fact a rollercoaster ride with stunning highs and bitter lows. He rose to fame at the 1966 World Cup in England, where after West Germany’s final defeat the British press marvelled at the grace of a ‘beaten but proud Prussian officer’. Yet there was nothing Prussian about the Bavarian boy who flouted authority, disregarded rules and viewed the traditional German work ethic with the disdain of someone to whom everything comes naturally. After a glittering early career at Bayern Munich – captaining them to three European Cup victories and pioneering the playmaking libero role in central defence – Beckenbauer made a controversial move to the recently formed New York Cosmos in 1977. Praised as ‘the greatest’ by none other than Muhammad Ali, he gently warded off overtures from Rudolf Nureyev and partied the night away with Mick Jagger and Grace Jones at Studio 54. Back home, though, people often wondered what to make of this most famous German athlete who was so un-German. Beckenbauer’s country had finally learned to love him by the time he managed the national side to World Cup glory in 1990, but allegations of corruption surrounding Germany’s successful bid to host the 2006 World Cup made him a controversial figure all over again. In The Three Lives of the Kaiser, leading football writer Uli Hesse gives us the definitive biography of this truly remarkable legend.

The Kaiser's Last Kiss

The Kaiser's Last Kiss
Author: Alan Judd
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2017-01-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 150114409X

"Originally published in Great Britain in 2003 by HarperCollins Publishers"--Copyright page.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Kaiser Wilhelm II
Author: John C. G. Röhl
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2014-08-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1316062600

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941) is one of the most fascinating figures in European history, ruling Imperial Germany from his accession in 1888 to his enforced abdication in 1918 at the end of the First World War. In one slim volume, John Röhl offers readers a concise and accessible survey of his monumental three-volume biography of the Kaiser and his reign. The book sheds new light on Wilhelm's troubled youth, his involvement in social and political scandals, and his growing thirst for glory, which, combined with his overwhelming nationalism and passion for the navy provided the impetus for a breathtaking long-term goal: the transformation of the German Reich into one of the foremost powers in the world. The volume examines the crucial role played by Wilhelm as Germany's Supreme War Lord in the policies that led to war in 1914. It concludes by describing the rabid anti-Semitism he developed in exile and his efforts to persuade Hitler to restore him to the throne.

King, Kaiser, Tsar

King, Kaiser, Tsar
Author: Catrine Clay
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0802718833

The extraordinary family story of George V, Wilhelm II, and Nicholas II: they were tied to one another by history, and history would ultimately tear them apart. Drawing widely on previously unpublished royal letters and diaries, made public for the first time by Queen Elizabeth II, Catrine Clay chronicles the riveting half century of the royals' overlapping lives, and their slow, inexorable march into conflict. They met frequently from childhood, on holidays, and at weddings, birthdays, and each others' coronations. They saw themselves as royal colleagues, a trade union of kings, standing shoulder to shoulder against the rise of socialism, republicanism, and revolution. And yet tensions abounded between them. Clay deftly reveals how intimate family details had deep historical significance: the antipathy Willy's mother (Victoria's daughter) felt toward him because of his withered left arm, and how it affected him throughout his life; the family tension caused by Otto von Bismarck's annexation of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark (Georgie's and Nicky's mothers were Danish princesses); the surreality surrounding the impending conflict. "Have I gone mad?" Nicholas asked his wife, Alexandra, in July 1914, showing her another telegram from Wilhelm. "What on earth does Willy mean pretending that it still depends on me whether war is averted or not?" Germany had, in fact, declared war on Russia six hours earlier. At every point in her remarkable book, Catrine Clay sheds new light on a watershed period in world history.

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm

George, Nicholas and Wilhelm
Author: Miranda Carter
Publisher: Knopf
Total Pages: 561
Release: 2010
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1400043638

In the years before World War I, the great European powers were ruled by three first cousins: King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Tsar Nicholas II. Carter uses the cousins' correspondence and a host of historical sources to tell their tragicomic stories.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Kaiser Wilhelm II
Author: Hourly History
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 46
Release: 2018-08-18
Genre:
ISBN: 9781725713369

Kaiser Wilhelm IIKaiser Wilhelm II was the last of the German emperors who reigned over the German Empire and Prussia. He was a man who thought himself to be quite adept at foreign affairs and diplomacy. The truth was, however, that this man's talent seemed to lie in being able to alienate entire countries after only one meeting with government officials or monarchs. Inside you will read about...✓ Born with a Disability ✓ The Year of the Three Emperors ✓ Leading Germany to World War I ✓ The Last German Emperor ✓ Wilhelm's Exile and World War II And much more! Despite the fact that he was one of the sparks that lit the fire of World War I, Wilhelm was quite an intelligent man. Some say his diplomatic failures happened because of mental illness; others claim that it was an inferiority complex caused by the physical disability that he was born with. Whatever the case, Wilhelm II's time as a world leader was riddled with political blunders and examples of what not to do in terms of diplomatic policies and practices. In this book, we will explore his life, both personal and professional, to find out more about how Kaiser Wilhelm II became the last German emperor.

Planet of the Umps

Planet of the Umps
Author: Ken Kaiser
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2004-04-19
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780312997106

In this hysterical autobiography, Major League Baseball umpire Ken Kaiser brings to life his twenty-five years on the baseball diamond.

All the Kaiser's Men

All the Kaiser's Men
Author: Ian Passingham
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 419
Release: 2011-10-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0752472585

Convinced that both God and the Kaiser were on their side, the officers and men of the German Army went to war in 1914, confident that they were destined for a swift and crushing victory in the West. The vaunted Schlieffen Plan on which the anticipated German victory was based expected triumph in the West to be followed by an equally decisive success on the Eastern Front. It was not to be. From the winter of 1914 until the early months of 1918, the struggle on the Western Front was characterised by trench warfare. But our perception of the conflict takes little or no account of the realities of life 'across the wire' in the German trenches. This book redresses that imbalance and reminds us how similar these young German men were to our own Tommies. Drawing from diaries and letters, Ian Passingham charts the hopes and despair of the German soldiers, filling an important gap in the history of the Western Front.

No End Save Victory

No End Save Victory
Author: David Kaiser
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2014-04-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465062997

While Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first hundred days may be the most celebrated period of his presidency, the months before the attack on Pearl Harbor proved the most critical. Beginning as early as 1939 when Germany first attacked Poland, Roosevelt skillfully navigated a host of challenges -- a reluctant population, an unprepared military, and disagreements within his cabinet -- to prepare the country for its inevitable confrontation with the Axis. In No End Save Victory, esteemed historian David Kaiser draws on extensive archival research to reveal the careful preparations that enabled the United States to win World War II. Alarmed by Germany and Japan's aggressive militarism, Roosevelt understood that the United States would almost certainly be drawn into the conflict raging in Europe and Asia. However, the American populace, still traumatized by memories of the First World War, was reluctant to intervene in European and Asian affairs. Even more serious was the deplorable state of the American military. In September of 1940, Roosevelt's military advisors told him that the US would not have the arms, ammunition, or men necessary to undertake any major military operation overseas -- let alone win such a fight -- until April of 1942. Aided by his closest military and civilian collaborators, Roosevelt pushed a series of military expansions through Congress that nearly doubled the size of the US Navy and Army, and increased production of the arms, tanks, bombers, and warships that would allow America to prevail in the coming fight. Highlighting Roosevelt's deft management of the strong personalities within his cabinet and his able navigation of the shifting tides of war, No End Save Victory is the definitive account of America's preparations for and entry into World War II. As Kaiser shows, it was Roosevelt's masterful leadership and prescience that prepared the reluctant nation to fight -- and gave it the tools to win.

The Three Emperors

The Three Emperors
Author: Miranda Carter
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 873
Release: 2009-09-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0141960965

The Three Emperors by Miranda Carter is the juicy, funny story of the three dysfunctional rulers of Germany, Russia and Great Britain at the turn of the last century, combined with a study of the larger forces around them. Three cousins. Three Emperors. And the road to ruin. As cousins, George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and the last Tsar Nicholas II should have been friends - but they happened also to rule Europe's three most powerful states. This potent combination together with their own destructive personalities - petty, insecure, bullying, absurdly obsessive (stamp collecting, uniforms) - led not only to their own dramatic fallouts and falls from grace, but also to the outbreak of the First World War. Miranda Carter's riveting account of how three men who should have known better helped bring down an entire world is a gripping story of abdication, betrayal and murder. 'Fascinating. A wonderfully fresh and beautifully choreographed work of history' Mail on Sunday 'Miranda Carter's story is full of vivid quotations...a romp though the palaces of Europe in their last decades before Armageddon' Sunday Times 'Fascinating. Carter is a gifted storyteller and has written a very readable account' Independent 'That these three absurd men could ever have held the fate of Europe in their hands is a fact as hilarious as it is terrifying. I haven't enjoyed a historical biography this much since Lytton Strachey's Victoria' Zadie Smith