Table of Contents

Introduction by Peter Paret 1. Frederick and His Age: The System of Absolutism 2. The Brandenburg-Prussian Heritage 3. The Development of Frederick's Personality 4. The King's View of the World 5. The King's View of the State 6. The Conquest of Silesia 7. Maintenance of Prussia's New Power 8. Frederician Warfare 9. The Character of Frederician Government and Society 10. The Old King: Foreign Policy in the Last Decades of His Reign

About the Author

Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter (April 6, 1888 - July 1, 1967) was a nationalist-conservative German historian, who served as a professor of history at the University of Freiburg from 1925 to 1956. Peter Paret is American military, cultural and art historian with a particular interest in German history.

Reviews

"Ritter's book is complex, subtle, and scholarly, and deserves to be read two or three times. . . There is no aspect of Frederick's government or wars that Ritter does not analyze with subtlety and usually with conviction."--"New York Review of Books