A Distant Thunder: Intimate Recollections of the Kaiser's Court

The governess, for seven years, of Princess Victoria Louise, daughter of Kaiser Wilehelm II, describes life at the imperial court

From 1902 through 1909 Topham served as English governess to Princess Victoria Louise, the only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. In this graceful compilation of her three books about her experiences in the German royal household published from 1914-1926, she has little to say about her young charge but presents an animated picture of the Kaiser, from his crushing macho handshake, his incongruous military getup worn even on picnics, his intense jealousy of England, his bellicose speeches and glorification of war, to his boast that he and his guests had killed more than 1600 heads? of game during a three-day-hunt. Despite the jolly badinage between them (he called her the British Dreadnought because of her tart tongue), the emperor and the middle-aged governess did not take to each other. Topham's remarks about the Germans in general are scathing; she desribes their "nauseous" sentimentality, coarseness, brutality, jingoism and blind adoration of their leaders in detail. Her reminiscences, as edited by Crisp, publisher of New Chapter Press, convey a vivid series of pictures of daily life in the Prussian court before the Great War, with ominous warnings of the approaching storm. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

English governess Topham spent seven years of the first decade of this century in Germany as English tutor for Kaiser Wilhelm II's only daughter, Victoria Louise. Afterward, she wrote of her experiences in a series of three memoirs. Ironically, the first work, which became an instant best seller, was published on the day Great Britain and Germany entered World War I. Now Topham's memoirs have been compiled and reprinted in one volume. They are marvelous for their freshness; Topham was an excellent observer of court life who could not only recount in vivid detail the official and private activities of the royal family but also provide insight into the character and values of German society. This is superb original source material for students and hence essential for academic libraries as well as large public libraries, whose World War I collections frequently are limited to military and political accounts.
- Rose Cichy, Osterhout Free Lib., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.