Frederick the Great: A Life in Deed and Letters

A look at the life of Frederick the Great reveals the often misunderstood king as not only a feared conqueror, but also a patron of the arts and a progressive lawmaker who helped make Berlin one of Europe's great capital cities.

MacDonogh's stated purpose in this biography is to recover the real Frederick from the various "imposters," the different versions of the Prussian king that have been current at different times and for different purposes (Frederick the Hero, Frederick the Nazi, etc.). Unfortunately, the author, whose previous works on Germany and German history were well received, presupposes a greater knowledge of the times than the average reader is likely to possess, and the pictures drawn of the various facets of Frederick's personality consequently never cohere into a single portrait. We see him as a sensitive young man who plots an escape from his father's tyrannical control, and later we see him as an accomplished diplomat, strategist and military leader, but the transition from one to the other is not fully explored. In a similar vein, the motives of those engaging in machinations surrounding the arrangements of Frederick's marriage are never made clear, though the account of the Seven Years' War is well-rounded and should be of interest to many readers. The account of Frederick's relationship with Voltaire is likewise interesting and well presented, but this book is probably best left to graduate students--though even they may be put off by the inconsistency of this volume. Explanatory notes appear sometimes at the bottom of the page and sometimes at the end of the book. Foreign phrases and sentences are not always translated, and the translations of verse, by Frederick himself and others, often sacrifice accuracy for what is perhaps intended to be a more fluid English version. Illus. (Apr.)
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An ambitious portrait that concentrates on the enlightened monarchs intellectual (rather than military) achievements. From an early age, Frederick the Great (171286) was an avid reader and flutist, much to the chagrin of his warlike, overbearing father, Frederick William I. At 18, Frederick was imprisoned and court-martialled (and a friend of his was executed) for plotting to flee his fathers dull court for France, where he intended to realize his artistic and literary dreams. Having failed in his escape, Frederick had a strict regimen of political and religious study imposed on the young princeone that served him well during the Seven Years War (when he faced, and defeated, almost all the other European powers combined). Frederick turned Prussia into a force to be reckoned with: he added territory to the kingdom, further modernized the army, encouraged religious tolerance, and implemented sweeping legal reform. But his major accomplishment as portrayed by MacDonogh (Berlin, 1998) was his patronage of the arts, particularly his correspondence with Voltaire. MacDonogh intersperses scenes of war throughout Germany with Fredericks exchange of letters with the philosopher. The two maintained a love-hate relationship for 42 years, their letters filling three volumes of Fredericks collected writings. Voltaire, forever greedy for more royal indulgences, runs between Versailles and Potsdamat one point being arrested at the border by Prussian soldiers who feared that he might publish some of Fredericks more bawdy poems. Frederick, his admiration for Voltaire bordering on obsession, tolerates the philosopher even when the French king employs him as a spy. As Frederick did so much in the military arena, however, its impossible not to devote space to that material. MacDonogh traces Fredericks conquests, but never with the same gusto as when he discusses his turbulent relations with intellectuals. As a result, as a military history, the work suffers in depth what it gains in breadth, with the cultural history making up for the loss. A captivating, diverse study of an equally fascinating figure. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Few recent single-volume biographies of Frederick II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great, examine his life as a whole. MacDonogh, a freelance journalist and sometime contributor to the BBC whose writings have ranged from histories of Berlin and Prussia to a study of Austrian wine, corrects this omission. Frederick is a historical figure open to a variety of interpretations: is he the grandfather of the Nazis, an enlightened philosopher-king, a national hero, or the defender of the Protestant Church? For all his fame, Frederick's love-hate relationship with Voltaire and the persistent but unproven rumors of homosexuality are usually unknown to the casual reader. MacDonogh is sympathetic toward Frederick but leaves the telling of the story largely to the ruler himself and his contemporaries, making judicious and bountiful use of primary documents. The translations can be earthy, reflecting the society of 18th-century Europe. Scholars of Frederick will not find many revelations, but readers looking for an introduction to this critical figure of German and European history will find a gem. Recommended for all public and undergraduate libraries.
-Randall L. Schroeder, Wartburg Coll. Lib., Waverly, IA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Frederick the Great is one of those enigmatic historical figures in whom various people find the ideal characteristics that serve their own purposes. Despite his Francophile tendencies, German nationalists revered him as a powerful, assertive force in laying the basis for the future unified German state. Authoritarians, including Hitler, were attracted to his appreciation of military discipline and war as an instrument of statecraft. Yet others with liberal leanings saw him as a cosmopolitan intellectual and a tolerant patron of the arts. MacDonogh, a journalist and historian, does not pretend to have unearthed the "real" Frederick. Rather, in his wide-ranging and often compelling portrait, all of the varied facets of this complex man are examined. While his scholarly research is excellent, MacDonogh employs his journalistic training to eloquently convey the conflicts and immense personal dynamism that lay behind his subject's ambitions and accomplishments. Both general readers and those with a strong background in European history will find great value in this outstanding biography. Jay Freeman