A Short History of Germany

A Short History

by Mary Platt Parmele

At the wedding festivities of his sister Wilhelmine, Frederick secreted himself among the servants in humble attire. He was discovered, and the King, who must have been in a genial mood that night, pulled him forth from his hiding, and leading him to the trembling queen said, "Here, madam, our Fritz is back again!" And the reconciliation made three aching hearts glad. -from Chapter XII With a verve and liveliness worthy of a novelist, American writer MARY PLATT PARMELE (1843-1911) put her unique stamp on world history with her series of clever, concise histories, condensed tales of the world's great nations that encompassed the essential facts necessary for appreciating the state of the world as she saw it. With this book, first published in 1897 and updated in 1908, she initiates American readers into the remarkable story of the origins, setbacks, and triumphs of the German nation. From the arrival of Teutonic tribes on the shores of the River Rhine to the creation of a unified Germany in the late 19th century, this is both dramatic history and an excellent foundation for appreciating the traumas Germany endured in the 20th century. OF INTEREST TO: readers of European and classical history Parmele's books available from Cosimo Classics include: * The Evolution of an Empire: A Brief Historical Sketch of France * The Evolution of an Empire: A Brief Historical Sketch of the United States * A Short History of Spain * A Short History of Rome and Italy * A Short History of England, Ireland and Scotland

Genres: History, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2013

About the author

Mary Platt Parmele was an American author and historian.

Mary Platt was born in Albany and educated in New York. Her first marriage was to J. J. Agnew and her second marriage to Theodore W. Parmele. From 1892 she began contributing philosophical articles and short stories to reviews and magazines, and published Kingdom of the Invisible and Christian Science. However, her most successful books were a number of "Short History" books of various countries written in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her "Short History of..." books included France, Russia, England, United States, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

Reviews

[Rhonda Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this and was curious as to how anyone could make a short history of Germany. It was fascinating by both the way it highlighted different things and how they affected German history but also in how the different events were discussed. This is highly readable - as in I had fun reading it. The barbed comments about some of the events are hilarious as they show the author's bias but they are still technically true. I really wish the author were still around just so I could read her view of more modern German history. This was very well worth the time and effort spent reading it.

[Ahmet GOCMEN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike other works written on this subject, the author summarized the History of Germany from the beginning until the 19th Century, the period in which he lived, in a literary way. It is an exciting book where you get into the spirit of the heroes at times. It is a work that those who want to have an idea about the History of Germany can read in one breath.

[Gord Clements · Rating 5 out of 5]

The was a very satisfying initiation into German history. One walks away feeling they have some sense of how it all unfolded from the time of Christ.

[F S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well -written and informative

[Josh Idiot Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very illuminating.

[Phil Syphe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This brief account of Germany's history was first published in 1897. The first few thousand years are skipped over quite quickly, partly through lack of knowledge for times BC and just after, but mainly because the author's intention was to focus on the most important events.

Mary Platt Parmele's writing style proves easy to digest. My only criticism is her overuse of exclamation points, most of which are unnecessary and make some sentences look childish. Below is an example of unneeded exclamation points in two consecutive sentences:

"It was not to be expected that Richelieu, who had been putting down Protestantism with an iron hand in France, would feel sympathy for the Protestant cause in Germany! But that wary primate and minister was not going to stand on a little matter of religion, when he saw an advantage to be gained for France!"

But apart from the above, I do like the author's style in general.

During the time that this history was written, the German emperor was none other than Queen Victoria's grandson; the kaiser involved with World War One. The author felt it inappropriate to write about him while he lived, but she makes a general observation, which I found interesting, knowing what was to come:

"Whether he has the intelligence and the wisdom required to control, unaided, the forces at home, or to guide his bark amid the whirl of European currents, later histories will tell."

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the late 1800's, this book has a complete history of Germany -- minus the disastrous 20th century. Enough detail is included to explain what was occurring, at the time, so it is possible to gain a good understanding of the subject.

German history is complicated, mostly because the rulers kept trying to build the Holy Roman Empire. As the author pointed out, it would have been much better if the rulers would have focused their attention on Germany, alone.

[Tina Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This is not a text book type read and it does have explanation points randomly placed but overall I thought this was a good quick informative read. There are some interesting color photos in the back (kindle edition).

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it cleared up some gaps of knowledge that I had in the German timeline at least