Dreadnought
"A classic [that] covers superbly a whole era...Engrossing in its glittering gallery of characters." CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Robert K. Massie has written a richly textured and gripping chronicle of the personal and national rivalries that led to the twentieth century's first great arms race. Massie brings to vivid life, such historical figures as the single-minded Admiral von Tirpitz, the young, ambitious, Winston Churchill, the ruthless, sycophantic Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow, and many others. Their story, and the story of the era, filled with misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and events leading to unintended conclusions, unfolds like a Greek tratedy in his powerful narrative. Intimately human and dramatic, DREADNOUGHT is history at its most riveting.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
4mentions
4people
2014–2025years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- On the contrary, it was Bismark's successor who wrecked the private non-aggression deal between Russia and Germany by initially agreeing to its continuation and then suddenly pulling out. Bismark succeeded in diplomatically isolating France, his successors succeeded in uniting France first with Russia and then with the UK.
Robert Massie's book "Dreadnought" does a thorough and impressive job of explaining the long background to the tragedy of WW1.
- Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie is a sprawling, fascinating read of the run up to the First World War from a naval/arms race perspective (it has a sequel too, covering the outbreak of war onwards). I highly recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/Dreadnought-Robert-K-Massie/dp/0345375...
- Just finished Dreadnought and started Castles of steel by the same author, Robert K. Massie.
- This aligns with what I've read in Robert K Massie's "Dreadnought". It feels odd to title the book "Bismarck's War" and then come to that lesson. It should really have been titled "Wilhelm's Lunacy".
Wilhelm's obsession with a massive fleet to compete with England lost any hopes of forming an alliance with them and resulted in Germany being seen as a threat. Having a large fleet puts you at odds against England no matter what - that is their last line of defense. It's interesting to think what might have happened had Germany abandoned any aims on a massive navy and focused all those resources on it's army instead. My hunch is no mis-alignement with England and a very different looking world today if that happened.
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