History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Vol. VII

托马斯·卡莱尔

No rating yet

Chapters: 10
Series: History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great is a multi-volume historical masterpiece on which the Scottish man of letters Thomas Carlyle spent more than a decade. The complete work runs to twenty-one volumes, of which this is the seventh. Unlike conventional royal biographies, Carlyle is in no hurry to place his subject on a pedestal; what concerns him more is how a sensitive young prince, fond of poetry and music, was repeatedly squeezed between a harsh father, a rigid court, and the marriage-bargaining of the European powers. This seventh volume corresponds to Book VII of the original, covering February to November 1730, under the title, literally rendered, "The Sad Fall of the Double-Marriage Scheme." Centering on the projected union between the Prussian Crown Prince and an English princess, the volume narrates the English envoy Hotham's mission to Berlin, the fruitless negotiations, the Crown Prince's plans with his friend to flee, his journey with his father through the Rhine and the Empire, the exposure of the affair on the return journey, and then the aftermath in Berlin, the treatment of those involved, the court-martial of the Crown Prince and his companions, and the Prince's removal to Custrin. Carlyle interweaves diplomatic archives, letters, memoirs, and contemporary accounts in a language archaic and highly dramatic, rendering both the cold hardness of court politics and the recklessness and yearnings of a young Crown Prince. This is the seventh volume of the series and must be read in sequence with the volumes before and after to trace in full Frederick's long passage from rebellious Crown Prince to a monarch of his age.

Summary

If the Frederick the Great in your mind is the white-haired old general who defeated larger armies at Rossbach and Leuthen, this volume will give you the opposite impression: a young man of about twenty, publicly humiliated by his father, used as a marriage pawn, who finally stakes his life on a frantic flight. Carlyle's brilliance lies in his refusal to rush to judgment. On the one hand he lays out diplomatic letters and urgent dispatches from envoys, letting the reader see clearly what England and Prussia each were calculating; on the other he draws on the princess's recollections and the notes of those in attendance to restore the tension within the palace walls so vividly that it seems before your eyes. Reading this volume, you will understand why the "Double Marriage" was doomed to run aground, and how this failure became the watershed of Frederick's life. A word of warning: Carlyle's style is dense and his syntax archaic, with a multitude of names of persons and places; the English original may prove hard going at first. But once you fall into his rhythm, that manner—half narrative, half commentary, now mocking, now sighing—has a force few others can match. This volume is best read as part of a long continuous reading of the whole biography, as a key link for understanding how Frederick's character was formed.

Editor's review

如果你印象中的腓特烈大帝，是那个在罗斯巴赫、洛伊滕以寡击众的白发老将，那么这一册会给你完全相反的印象：一个二十岁上下、被父亲当众羞辱、被婚姻当筹码、最后把人生赌在一场仓皇出逃上的年轻人。卡莱尔的高明之处，在于他并不急着下判断。他一面摆出外交信函与使节急报，让读者看清英普两国各打算盘；一面又借公主的回忆、随行者的笔录，把宫墙之内的紧张气氛还原得近在眼前。读这一卷，你会明白「双重婚姻」为何注定搁浅，也会明白这次失败如何成为腓特烈一生的分水岭。需要提醒的是，卡莱尔文风浓稠，句法古旧，旁涉人名地名极多，初读英文原著可能会觉得吃力；但一旦进入他的节奏，那种夹叙夹议、忽而讥讽忽而慨叹的笔调，自有他人难及的劲道。本册适合放在整部传记的长线阅读中，作为理解腓特烈性格成因的关键一环。

Who it's for

A good fit for

读过卡莱尔作品、愿意啃英文原著的读者
对普鲁士史、18世纪欧洲宫廷与外交感兴趣的读者
想了解腓特烈大帝青年时期性格成因的传记读者
收藏英文名著大型合集、按册补读的藏书爱好者

Not a good fit for

希望先读通史入门、缺乏背景知识的初学读者
偏好现代白话叙事与快节奏历史写作的读者
只想要一本完整独立传记、不愿分册连读的读者

Reading tips

建议先读同系列前六册，弄清双重婚姻计划的来龙去脉，再进入本册。
把人名地名随手记下，配合欧洲地图与普鲁士王室世系表对照阅读。
遇到冗长插叙可先略读，抓住时间主线：使节谈判、出逃、败露、审判四个节点。
读完本册可接读第八册，看王储在屈斯特林如何转折，形成完整叙事闭环。

Volume VII: The Sad Fall of the Double-Marriage Scheme (February–November 1730)
Chapter I: England sends the Hotham Embassy to Berlin; the King and the Crown Prince travel together to Dresden; how Viereck is received in England; Hotham arrives in Berlin
Chapter II: The Language of Birds: the Hotham Embassy labors in vain; a glimpse of the Nostitz-Grumkow correspondence intercepted in St. Mary Axe; Hotham's dispatches; the King sees the St. Mary Axe papers, but nothing follows; an accident at St. Peter's Church, Berlin
Chapter III: The Camp of Radewitz
Chapter IV: The Hotham Embassy leaves Berlin in haste
Chapter V: The Journey through the Empire
Chapter VI: The Return from the Empire; the catastrophe on the way back
Chapter VII: The catastrophe; the King arrives in Berlin; the scene at the King's arrival in Berlin
Chapter VIII: The sequel of the Crown Prince and his friends
Chapter IX: The court-martial of the Crown Prince and his companions; the Crown Prince at Custrin; the sentence of the court-martial; the death of Katte

FAQ

这一册写的是腓特烈哪一段人生？

本册对应原书 Book VII，集中在 1730 年 2 月至 11 月，核心是王储与英国公主联姻计划的失败、王储出逃受挫，以及随后的审判与押往屈斯特林，属于腓特烈青年时期最凶险的一段。

没有读过前几册能直接看第七册吗？

可以读，但不建议。本册开篇即接手前卷未决的婚事谈判，出场人物与恩怨关系大多在前六册铺陈，直接进入容易摸不清头绪，最好按顺序连读或先补读相关章节。

这本书有中译本吗？

本条目描述的是英文原著第七卷。卡莱尔这部传记的中文全译本流通较少，常见形态是英文原著、公版电子书或影印本，购买或借阅时请以实际版本信息为准。

为什么作者叙述经常岔开话题？

卡莱尔习惯在主线中嵌入大量书信、传闻与旁枝考据，并随时发表评论，这是他的文体特征而非编排错误。读者可把它当作一种夹叙夹议的史料拼贴来读。

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

托马斯·卡莱尔 Author

Thomas Carlyle was an important essayist, historian and social critic of the Victorian era in Britain, though public sources offer limited detail about his life. The library holds one work by him, Twelve Lectures on the History of Western Literature, classified under foreign literature and covering the development of Western literature along with commentary on authors and their works. Carlyle's writing is known for its energetic prose, dense imagery and interweaving of argument and narrative; he often used historical and literary subjects to express concern for the spirit of his age, and his style carries a strong tone of moral judgment. His historical works and literary lectures circulated widely in the English-speaking world and remain of some value for understanding the intellectual atmosphere and literary ideas of the nineteenth century.