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Prince Henry of Prussia
Prince Henry of Prussia was the second son of Crown Prince Frederick William, later Emperor Frederick III, and the Crown Princess, later Empress Frederick. As a youth he joined the imperial German navy, and travelled widely throughout Asia and the Americas. An easygoing character, renowned for his interest in motoring and aviation as well as nautical matters, he was much more popular with his royal and imperial cousins throughout Europe than his elder brother, Emperor William II. Yet his love of England, and reluctance to contemplate the possibility of hostilities between Germany and England, is thought to have led to his convincing the Emperor that the English would remain neutral as the likelihood of war became increasingly inevitable in 1914. This is the first biography in English of an often-overlooked prince.
- GenresNonfiction
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2015
About the author
John van der Kiste
143 books45 followersJohn Van der Kiste, British author, was born in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, on September 15, 1954, son of Wing Commander Guy Van der Kiste (1912–99). He was educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, where he briefly formed a rock band Cobweb with fellow pupil Miles Tredinnick, later vocalist with new wave band London and subsequently playwright and scriptwriter, and read Librarianship at Ealing Technical College, where he edited the librarians’ student magazine.
He has worked for several years in public and academic libraries, but is best known as a writer. His first book, Frederick III, appeared in 1981, and since then he has published over twenty historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, a novel and a play. He is also a contributor to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Guinness Rockopaedia, and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including Illustrated London News, Royalty Digest, European Royal History Journal, Best of British, BBC History Magazine, Record Collector, Antique Collector, This England, The Independent, and Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited the 70s rock fanzine Keep on Rockin.
In 2002 he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary 'The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar', first screened in January 2003.
He married professional musician and teacher Kim Graham (née Geldard) in 2003 and lives in Devon.
He has worked for several years in public and academic libraries, but is best known as a writer. His first book, Frederick III, appeared in 1981, and since then he has published over twenty historical biographies, as well as books on local history, true crime, rock music, a novel and a play. He is also a contributor to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Guinness Rockopaedia, and has produced articles on historical, musical and art subjects in national and local journals, including Illustrated London News, Royalty Digest, European Royal History Journal, Best of British, BBC History Magazine, Record Collector, Antique Collector, This England, The Independent, and Gibbons Stamp Monthly. He has reviewed books and records for the press, written CD booklet notes, and between 1991 and 1996 edited the 70s rock fanzine Keep on Rockin.
In 2002 he was a consultant for the BBC TV documentary 'The King, the Kaiser and the Tsar', first screened in January 2003.
He married professional musician and teacher Kim Graham (née Geldard) in 2003 and lives in Devon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 18, 2020
I’ve read plenty of Van der Kiste’s books before and always enjoyed them. He’s a solid writer who has covered the Hohenzollerns extensively. I picked this one up because Prince Henry seems like the forgotten prince of the dynasty, overshadowed by Wilhelm. I knew very little about him, other than the fact that he married Ella and Alix’s sister, Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine. Was there more to the story?
Well, yes and no.
First things first – this is a brief book, not intended to be a comprehensive biography. As the author warns in the preface, this book is “unashamedly based almost completely on published sources.”
I don’t have a problem with that, especially when I'm told up front. However, the book did feel a little lacking without more of Henry’s perspective on the events described. But that would be a different book, one written by someone with archival access to see what’s left of Henry’s letters or diaries (if anything).
This is not that book. See the problem here?
This book is everything it set out to be – a brief life of Prince Henry. But because it feels more like a summary or outline of events, without a lot of depth or perspective, I’m left feeling like I didn’t learn much about Henry himself.
Van der Kiste covered what he lived through, and the basic outline of his life – naval career, marriage to Irene, birth of hemophiliac children, his role in the infamous “George V said Britain will be neutral” controversy, fall of the monarchy, etc.
But the human emotions that really bring a biography to life are all missing here. Why did he fall for Irene? How did he feel when his hemophiliac son, Henry, died? Did he have hopes, dreams, or fears for their other hemophiliac son, Waldemar? Did he have sympathy for Nicholas and Alexandra, dealing with that same fear? What were his post-war thoughts about the role he might have played in overestimating George V’s ability to sway Britain’s policies? We don’t know, because we don’t have Henry’s own words. He’s still an enigma.
As much as I hate to say it, I feel like this book is complete for what it is, but incomplete in terms of what the reader is going to want. I respect Van der Kiste as a writer – he’s trying to fill a hole in the market. I just think, with this particular subject, something deeper is required to make the effort worthwhile.
Well, yes and no.
First things first – this is a brief book, not intended to be a comprehensive biography. As the author warns in the preface, this book is “unashamedly based almost completely on published sources.”
I don’t have a problem with that, especially when I'm told up front. However, the book did feel a little lacking without more of Henry’s perspective on the events described. But that would be a different book, one written by someone with archival access to see what’s left of Henry’s letters or diaries (if anything).
This is not that book. See the problem here?
This book is everything it set out to be – a brief life of Prince Henry. But because it feels more like a summary or outline of events, without a lot of depth or perspective, I’m left feeling like I didn’t learn much about Henry himself.
Van der Kiste covered what he lived through, and the basic outline of his life – naval career, marriage to Irene, birth of hemophiliac children, his role in the infamous “George V said Britain will be neutral” controversy, fall of the monarchy, etc.
But the human emotions that really bring a biography to life are all missing here. Why did he fall for Irene? How did he feel when his hemophiliac son, Henry, died? Did he have hopes, dreams, or fears for their other hemophiliac son, Waldemar? Did he have sympathy for Nicholas and Alexandra, dealing with that same fear? What were his post-war thoughts about the role he might have played in overestimating George V’s ability to sway Britain’s policies? We don’t know, because we don’t have Henry’s own words. He’s still an enigma.
As much as I hate to say it, I feel like this book is complete for what it is, but incomplete in terms of what the reader is going to want. I respect Van der Kiste as a writer – he’s trying to fill a hole in the market. I just think, with this particular subject, something deeper is required to make the effort worthwhile.
February 27, 2018
Prince Henry
It was a well written book about one of Queen Victoria’s grandsons. I would read it again and I would also recommend it to my friends.
It was a well written book about one of Queen Victoria’s grandsons. I would read it again and I would also recommend it to my friends.
January 3, 2017
Couldn't help but think that it just seemed like failed and exaggerated (by Wilhelm) diplomatic visits over and over again so it became tedious
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews