An exploration of the upheavals in the history of Germany from "the wandering barbarian tribes; the Teutonic knights; Frederick Barbarossa, legendary Roman emperor; the Reformation and other religious wars; the reign of Frederick the Great;...the rise of the Prussian state and...the unity by the 'iron man' Bismarck; the catastrophic upheavals associated with...Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler"--Flyleaf.