Westphalian Garde du Corps uniforms re-used in a Shrove Monday procession, Cologne, 1825. Detail from a lithograph by Jodocus Schlappal. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved reading all I can get my hands on regarding WW1 and WW2, and the German military figures large in both. I just keep thinking there is more to say - although such stories might be much more involved.

German military history is typically viewed as an inexorable march to the rise of Prussia and the two world wars, the road paved by militarism and the result a specifically German way of war. Peter Wilson challenges this narrative. Looking beyond Prussia to German-speaking Europe across the last five centuries, Wilson finds little unique or preordained in German militarism or warfighting. Self-portrait of a Valaisan soldier in Neapolitan service. Drawing contained in a letter home, 1830s.

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 Endlessly fascinating ... History has returned to Europe, and Iron and Blood is an excellent place to start getting reacquainted with it. Oliver Moody, The Times The author has chopped his book into 5 sections: the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, and last, but certainly not least, the rather bloody 1900s of toothbrush moustsche notoriety. Each century is sub-divided into three chapters: 1. A summary of (numerous) wars. Those who like traditional battle narratives may be saddened to learn that Dr Wilson limits discussion of actual fighting to brief, dry summaries: Count Goring von Hess defeated Burgomeister Hitler Rommelstein at the battle of BarbarossaAuschwitz and then most of the Army succumbed to dystentery forcing an anti-climactic peace. 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. ” —Jonathan Boff, BBC History Magazine Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

Formidably erudite ... What is now Germany's shameful past was once Adolf Hitler's vision of the future. Reimagined by Vladimir Putin, that spectral vision now haunts our present. Hence the importance and urgency of Wilson's investigation. Daniel Johnson, The Critic A work of first-rate scholarship ... will become the starting point for all students of military history, not only of Germany but of Europe as a whole. Jonathan Boff, BBC History Magazine No one interested in the history of Europe can afford not to read this stupendous book' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph In defiance of this orthodoxy, Wilson’s astonishingly detailed new book is a military history not merely of Germany, but of all parts of Europe that were populated by German speakers, notably Switzerland, from 1500 to the present day. Every aspect of the armies and navies of German Europe is considered: the men (and later women) who served in them; their uniforms, weaponry, recruitment, pay and treatment; the relationship of the military with rulers and politicians; and the wars themselves. This is an immensely readable, though academic, work on the evolution of German army structure. Military buffs ought to be aware that this work doesn't focus on battles, operational details, or military nuts and bolts. Instead, Wilson gives reasons why modern English-written works especially comb over well-trodden ground with respect to the history of military Prussia, while giving scarce attention to the leviathan that was the Holy Roman Empire during the 1500s-1700s.The author of definitive books on the Holy Roman Empire and the Thirty Years War, Peter Wilson has with Iron and Blood written his masterpiece. Starting in 1500 with the Holy Roman Empire describing the relationship between the electors and empire and between each other, reasons when the war was deemed as permissible, means to wage the war, day to day of the army, relationship between the army and the civilian, advances in weaponry and strategy and how those changed the face of war. All this and more is in the book, each theme having its own subdivision.

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. ” —Robert Gewarth, Financial Times A thorough/detailed book indeed, but I've felt the balance of details was a bit off, some numbers could be omitted, as well as enumeration of certain facts. Overall, liked the book a lot and the title of the book lives up to its name. The two world wars have generated an almost incomprehensible amount of historical writing, but have also posed a historiographical problem: they have “stunted debate and frozen German military history”, as Peter Wilson puts it. Historians imagine that all German military history is rooted in Prussia; and they write mainly about battles. The existing literature focuses on the period between German unification in 1871 and the Third Reich’s destruction in 1945, to which all roads are seen to lead.

Wilson's focus examines the development of weapons, and the logistical evolution that supports the growth of standing armies through this period. That's not to say that there is no coverage of important aspects of military history--we get an excellent section on the design of warships, for example--but while battles are referred to, they are not detailed as in purely military histories. 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. ” —Barney White-Spunner, 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. ” —Alexander Watson, Literary Review An ambitious book which was badly needed ... illuminating on the complicated relationship between Prussia, both state and society, and its army .... required reading for serious military historians. Barney White-Spunner, Aspects of History 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. ” —Katja Hoyer, History Today