The King's Love

Friedrich Wilhelm Prinz von Preußen erzählt gemeinsam mit Prinzessin von Preußen das Leben Friedrichs des Großen (1712-1786). Dabei rücken sie das Bild des unterkühlten und berechnenden Monarchen gerade. Indem Friedrichs Liebe zu seinen Hunden geschildert wird, lernen wir einen leidenschaftlichen, zu freundschaftlichen Gefühlen fähigen König kennen. Eine ebenso unterhaltsame wie aufschlussreiche und liebevoll illustrierte Biographie Friedrichs II. – nicht nur für Preußen-Begeisterte. Diese Ausgabe ist die erste englische Auflage. A brisk and insightful biography of Frederick the Great written by two of his royal descendants, Princess Sibylle and Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia. Deemphasizing the king’s political and military achievements while highlighting his personal relationships, interests, and even quirks, this book gives us Frederick as full-blooded Mensch rather than as Olympian monarch. His tortured relationship with his martinet father, the “soldier king”; his extraordinary devotion to his dogs, eclipsing even his love for significant humans; his passion for reading and for the ideals of Enlightenment philosophy as guiding forces in government; the seemingly ceaseless tide of grief he had to endure over the rapid succession of deaths of those closest to him; even his less than fastidious table manners in cutting up bits of meat on the tablecloth for his nearby dogs—these and many other facets of a charismatic personality make this a volume that is for history buffs virtually “unputdownable.”