Peter H. Wilson is the author of Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire, an Economist and Sunday Times Best Book, and The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy, winner of the Distinguished Book Award from the Society of Military History. He has appeared on BBC Radio and has written for Prospect, the Los Angeles Times, and the Financial Times. President of the Society for the History of War and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Wilson is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford. His work has been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish.
Wilson’s fascinating and comprehensive chronicle reminds us that
the country’s vaunted reputation was of recent vintage anyway and
failed to encompass the many Germanic traditions that had little to
do with Prussia, which was dominant for only a limited period.
Recovering the complexity of German military history gives us a
fresh perspective—one that is especially welcome at the current
moment, when Germany is debating what its role should be as cannons
fire and bombs drop yet again in Europe.
*Wall Street Journal*
Wilson provides a bold survey of over half a millennium of
warfare…His book is a masterful demonstration of the great
potential of the new military history that has emerged over recent
decades as scholars, distancing themselves from an older generation
mainly interested in chaps and maps, have begun to pay more
attention to the social, economic, and political aspects of
war.
*New York Review of Books*
The scholarship of this book is breathtaking…No one interested in
the history of Europe, and of the Germans in particular, can afford
not to read this stupendous book.
*The Telegraph*
Hugely impressive…A determinedly analytical book, tracing in five
lengthy, chronologically divided sections the development of
strategy and tactics, military planning, finance and resources, the
recruitment and social structures of the soldiery, weaponry and
equipment, ideas about war and much more besides…The experience of
Germany since 1945 demonstrates Peter H. Wilson’s point that German
history, seen over the long term, consists of more than an endless
series of wars.
*Times Literary Supplement*
Iron and Blood delves into politics, economics, technology and
social developments. Its long view of Germany’s military history,
magisterial detail and acute analysis provide a new understanding
of what was once Europe’s warring heart.
*The Economist*
Astonishingly ambitious and detailed…An absorbing overview of how
slowly changing societal forces—such as fiscal systems, scientific
and technological capabilities, ideological and cultural beliefs,
and the social background of soldiers—have transformed the use of
military force across modern times.
*Foreign Affairs*
There is no grand unified theory in Iron and Blood—how could there
be? Instead, it is an all-round purple patch of scholarship,
chock-full of absorbing detail…History has returned to Europe, and
Iron and Blood is an excellent place to start getting reacquainted
with it.
*The Times*
Groundbreaking and highly accessible…The return of conventional
warfare to Europe’s shores undoubtedly gives [Wilson’s] astute
historical reflections on the conduct of war in central Europe an
unforeseen, and unhoped for, topicality.
*Financial Times*
This is an ambitious book which was badly needed given that so much
of our recent history has been dominated by both the Hapsburgs and
the Hohenzollerns and the consequences of their demise…Required
reading for serious military historians.
*Aspects of History*
A work of first-rate scholarship, rooted in broad and deep
knowledge of the period and literature…Iron and Blood will become
the starting point for all students of military history, not only
of Germany but of Europe as a whole.
*BBC History Magazine*
Magisterial…A magnificent and very readable explanation of a grand
sweep of history, which brings us right up to date and is unlikely
ever to be bettered.
*Aspects of History*
The definitive account of Germany’s military history over the long
durée…As the country enters a new military epoch, rearming against
a resurgent Russia, this timely book offers an invaluable guide to
Germans’ rich, long and complex martial history.
*Literary Review*
Iron and Blood is also ambitious in its contextualisation of
military history, drawing on political, economic, and social
developments. An examination of civilian responses to conflict
challenges the notion of Germans as uniquely war-like…A timely
book.
*History Today*
The book is as much a history of Germany as it is a military
history. Wilson goes through painstaking detail to describe the
ever-changing political landscape of Europe leading up to World War
I and II…A fascinating study.
*Books for Congress*
There is no equivalent study of this quality for Germany, nor,
indeed, really for any other European state, so Wilson deserves
considerable praise for a work which should receive much
attention…This brilliant book sets a model for other works.
*Mars & Clio*
An encyclopedic survey of the ‘German way of war’ as it developed
in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland from the 16th century to the
present day…[Wilson] successfully upends a regiment’s worth of
prevailing wisdom. It’s a monumental achievement.
*Publishers Weekly*
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