A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

Taylor, Bayard, 1825-1878Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
1.1M words
Chapters
108

Tags

English Originals World History Historical ReappraisalRise of Great PowersMilitary StrategyPortrait GalleryPatriotismPopular NarrativeCultural ChangeSocial Observation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day by Bayard TaylorAuthor: Taylor, Bayard, 1825-1878,Language: English, Class: DD: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Germany, Release Date: Jun 21, 2011

Editor's review

This general history of Germany comes from the 19th-century American writer and traveler Bayard Taylor, tracing the story from the early migrations of Germanic tribes all the way to the German unification process of the author's own time, a typical example of 19th-century English-language general history writing. Its value lies not in offering the latest scholarly conclusions, but in showing how English-speaking intellectuals a century ago understood German history: the narrative is coherent, figures and events are interwoven, and it is highly readable, carrying a distinct period perspective and value judgments. For today's Chinese readers, it is better suited as a source text and a specimen of historiography—it can help establish a basic chronological framework of German history, and also let one observe the tone and choices of Victorian-era historical writing. Readers should be mindful of the era-bound national narrative and Eurocentric perspective. This is a public-domain English e-book, suitable as an introductory framework for history enthusiasts, or for researchers to compare against later works of German history and examine changes in historical narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Start with the table of contents and each chapter's opening summary to build a timeline from the tribal period to unification, then read chapter by chapter.
  2. Read alongside a modern history of Germany and note where the 19th-century narrative differs from current scholarship.
  3. Jot down the author's evaluative statements as you read, then revisit them to assess his era's standpoint.
  4. Work through the English original volume by volume, reading one or two chapters at a time and summarizing the key points to avoid stalling on such a long work.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
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  11. 11
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  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
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  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
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  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
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  75. 75
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  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
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  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
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  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
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  106. 106
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  108. 108

FAQ

Up to what period does this book's narrative run? Judging from the title and the author's lifetime, the book runs from early Germanic history to the 19th century in which the author lived, roughly covering the process around German unification. It does not deal with the 20th century, so readers interested in modern German history will need a modern work to supplement it.
Is this book suitable as an introduction to German history? It can serve as a framework introduction: the narrative is coherent and the sequence of events clear, helping readers build a basic timeline. But it was written in the 19th century, and its views and selection of facts carry the limitations of its time; it is best read alongside a contemporary general history rather than treated as the sole authority.
The original is in English—is it hard to read? This is 19th-century English prose, with long sentences and fairly formal vocabulary, but it is largely narrative and free of dense academic jargon. Readers with university-level English can work through it with a dictionary; start with chapter overviews before tackling the details.
What is the source and nature of the electronic edition? The book is published by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain eBook available free of charge. It is based on an old text that has entered the public domain and contains no modern scholarly notes or updates; when citing it, note the edition's date and the reliability of the text.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Taylor, Bayard, 1825-1878 Author

Bayard Taylor (1825–1878) was an American writer, represented in this collection by ten works. Public information about him is limited, so this note focuses on the subjects of his writings. He worked mainly in travel writing and fiction. His representative works include Travels in Arabia, Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Denmark and Lapland, Views A-foot Or, Europe Seen with Knapsack and Staff, and The Lands of the Saracen; these are largely based on actual journeys and are notable for their detailed observation and personal reflection. His novels The Story of Kennett and Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania are set against local life in Pennsylvania and pay close attention to character and regional setting. He also wrote A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day and the story collection Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home. His works combine geographical description with literary narrative and offer some reference value for understanding nineteenth-century European and American travel literature.