Download or read book Frederick the Great written by Tim Blanning and published by Random House. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 705 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive biography of the legendary autocrat whose enlightened rule transformed the map of Europe and changed the course of history Few figures loom as large in European history as Frederick the Great. When he inherited the Prussian crown in 1740, he ruled over a kingdom of scattered territories, a minor Germanic backwater. By the end of his reign, the much larger and consolidated Prussia ranked among the continent’s great powers. In this magisterial biography, award-winning historian Tim Blanning gives us an intimate, in-depth portrait of a king who dominated the political, military, and cultural life of Europe half a century before Napoleon. A brilliant, ambitious, sometimes ruthless monarch, Frederick was a man of immense contradictions. This consummate conqueror was also an ardent patron of the arts who attracted painters, architects, musicians, playwrights, and intellectuals to his court. Like his fellow autocrat Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick was captivated by the ideals of the Enlightenment—for many years he kept up lively correspondence with Voltaire and other leading thinkers of the age. Yet, like Catherine, Frederick drew the line when it came to implementing Enlightenment principles that might curtail his royal authority. Frederick’s terrifying father instilled in him a stern military discipline that would make the future king one of the most fearsome battlefield commanders of his day, while deriding as effeminate his son’s passion for modern ideas and fine art. Frederick, driven to surpass his father’s legacy, challenged the dominant German-speaking powers, including Saxony, Bavaria, and the Habsburg Monarchy. It was an audacious foreign policy gambit, one at which Frederick, against the expectations of his rivals, succeeded. In examining Frederick’s private life, Blanning also carefully considers the long-debated question of Frederick’s sexuality, finding evidence that Frederick lavished gifts on his male friends and maintained homosexual relationships throughout his life, while limiting contact with his estranged, unloved queen to visits that were few and far between. The story of one man’s life and the complete political and cultural transformation of a nation, Tim Blanning’s sweeping biography takes readers inside the mind of the monarch, giving us a fresh understanding of Frederick the Great’s remarkable reign. Praise for Frederick the Great “Writing Frederick’s biography . . . requires a diverse set of skills: expertise in eighteenth-century diplomatic and military history, including the intricacies of the Holy Roman Empire; a familiarity with the music, architecture and intellectual traditions of Northern Europe; and, not least, a profound sense of human psychology, the better to grasp the makeup of this complex and tormented man. Fortunately, Tim Blanning . . . has all of these skills in abundance.”—The Wall Street Journal “At once scholarly and highly readable . . . [Blanning] has given us a superb portrait of an enlightened despot, equally at home on the battlefield and in the opera house, both utterly ruthless and culturally refined.”—Commentary “Blanning, in clear thinking and prose, investigates all aspects of Frederick’s personality and reign. . . . The last word on this significant king, for years to come.”—Booklist (starred review) “Masterly . . . Blanning brilliantly brings to life one of the most complex characters of modern European history.”—The Telegraph (five stars) “A supremely nuanced account . . . This biography finds [Blanning] at the height of his powers.”—Literary Review

Download or read book Harvard University Bulletin written by Harvard University and published by . This book was released on 1892 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bibliographical Contributions written by Harvard University. Library and published by . This book was released on 1890 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bibliographical Contributions written by William Coolidge Lane and published by . This book was released on 1886 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Harvard University Bulletin written by and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Frederick the Great s Philosophical Writings written by Frederick II and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first modern English edition of diverse Enlightenment-era writings by Prussian monarch Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786), best known as Frederick the Great, was a prolific writer of philosophical discourses, poems, epics, satires, and more, while maintaining extensive correspondence with prominent intellectuals, Voltaire among them. This edition of selected writings, the first to make a wide range of Frederick’s most important ideas available to a modern English readership, moves beyond traditional attempts to see his work only in light of his political aims. In these pages, we can finally appreciate Frederick’s influential contributions to the European Enlightenment—and his unusual role as a monarch who was also a published author. In addition to Frederick’s major opus, the Anti-Machiavel, the works presented here include essays, prefaces, reviews, and dialogues. The subjects discussed run the gamut from ethics to religion to political theory. Accompanied by critical annotations, the texts show that we can understand Frederick’s views of kingship and the state only if we engage with a broad spectrum of his thought, including his attitudes toward morality and self-love. By contextualizing his arguments and impact on Enlightenment beliefs, this volume considers how we can reconcile Frederick’s innovative public musings with his absolutist rule. Avi Lifschitz provides a robust and detailed introduction that discusses Frederick’s life and work against the backdrop of eighteenth-century history and politics. With its unparalleled scope and cross-disciplinary appeal, Frederick the Great’s Philosophical Writings firmly establishes one monarch’s multifaceted relevance for generations of readers and scholars to come.

Download or read book The Carlyle Collection written by William Coolidge Lane and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Catalogue of the Books Belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia with an Account of the Institution Charters Laws and Regulations written by Library Company of Philadelphia and published by . This book was released on 1835 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Catalogue of the Books Belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia written by Library Company of Philadelphia and published by . This book was released on 1835 with total page 1106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Catalogue of the Books Belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia Jurisprudence written by Library Company of Philadelphia and published by . This book was released on 1835 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Famous Men of Modern Times written by John Haaren and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This easy to read text will be not only be a delight for your child to read, but will also provide a great insight to the foundations of the modern world. You can experience the adventurous times of the birth of the modern era through the eyes of such men as Lorenzo de Medici, Christopher Columbus, Galileo, Newton, Napoleon, Gladstone, and George Washington.

Download or read book A Catalogue Of The Books Belonging To The Library Company Of Philadelphia To Which Is Prefixed A Short Account Of The Institution With The Charter Laws And Regulations written by and published by . This book was released on 1835 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A New Edition Greatly Enlarged Elegant Anecdotes and Bons Mots of Greatest Princes Politicians Philosophers Orators and Wits of Modern Times written by John III Adams and published by . This book was released on 1790 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bulletin of More Important Accessions with Bibliographical Contributions written by Justin Winsor and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Catalogue of the Books Belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia Jurisprudence written by and published by . This book was released on 1835 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century written by John Nichols and published by . This book was released on 1816 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Translation of German Poetry in American Magazines 1741 1810 written by and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: