Corrado Pirzio-Biroli offers a robust defense of the life and career of his great-grandfather, Grand-Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, in this engaging family history. As the creator of the modern German navy, the trusted adviser of Wilhelm II for two decades, and an "eminence grise" during the Weimar Republic, Tirpitz was a central figure in European politics for several decades. While Tirpitz agonized about Hitler's rising power, he could not prevent it, and he felt as though he was too old to assume dictatorial powers. If he had done so, he would have liked to have upheld the Reichstag, which he had always shown respect and counted on. Drawing on personal recollections, unpublished family papers, and thoughtful analysis, the text reveals how Tirpitz had to adapt to a rapidly changing world in which his country went from being a juggernaut that traditional powers tried to rein in to a pariah nation. Trace four generations of one of Europe's most interesting families, and discover how Tirpitz proved to be a visionary leader in this account of one of history's most misunderstood and important figures.

Corrado Pirzio-Biroli offers a robust defense of the life and career of his great-grandfather, Grand-Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, in this engaging family history. As the creator of the modern German navy, the trusted adviser of Wilhelm II for two decades, and an eminence grise during the Weimar Republic, Tirpitz was a central figure in European politics for several decades. While Tirpitz agonized about Hitlers rising power, he could not prevent it, and he felt as though he was too old to assume dictatorial powers. If he had done so, he would have liked to have upheld the Reichstag, which he had always shown respect and counted on. Drawing on personal recollections, unpublished family papers, and thoughtful analysis, the text reveals how Tirpitz had to adapt to a rapidly changing world in which his country went from being a juggernaut that traditional powers tried to rein in to a pariah nation. Trace four generations of one of Europes most interesting families, and discover how Tirpitz proved to be a visionary leader in this account of one of historys most misunderstood and important figures.

When Prussia, with her German allies, went to war with the French Empire under Napoleon III, her navy sat with tons of barnacles on the hulls of her battleships. Her navy was small, ineffective, without doctrine and destitute of funding. As nascent Germany struggled to become a ‘Great Power’, the navy was to be thoroughly updated. The man who took on this challenge was Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, a seasoned sailor who was given huge power as the Secretary of State for the Imperial Navy Office to ring the changes and produce a force that would be a political weapon on the World Stage. Tirpitz and his officers set to work without any of the preconceptions that hamstrung their only obvious opponent, the Royal Navy, and advanced the idea of submarines and torpedoes as critical weapons of Naval importance. The fruits of his labours produced a potent navy which sought to antagonize the Royal Navy into conflict, and during the only major engagement of the First World War at Jutland, their superior gunnery caused much damage to the British Fleet. He was, however, hoisted by his own petard in 1916, brought down by his own restless advocacy of unrestricted submarine warfare. Author — Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, 1849-1930. Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, Dodd, Mead, and company, 1919. Original Page Count – x and 377 pages

Tapestry Of My Mother's Life is a biographical account of a woman coming of age in Germany during the 1930s. Malve von Hassell explores her mother's life through the fragmented lens of transmitted memory, and its impact on the second generation. Born at her grandfather's house in Farther Pomerania, 1923, Christa von Hassell had to contend with the increasing and pervasive impact of the Nazi regime. As the child of a German army officer, she moved with her parents often. Through boarding school, university, marriage, the Second World War, life under Soviet occupation, and a new beginning in the West, eventually in America, the biography is an incredible, emotional journey of childhood, survival, and relationships. The portrayal of Christa's life also focuses on the role of memory: shaped, distorted, and realigned in the continual process of telling stories of the past in conjunction with silence about many aspects. Children of women who shared similar experiences and life trajectories struggled with the challenge of learning about their parents' lives during extraordinary times, confounded by a wealth of stories on the one hand and a seemingly impenetrable veil of silence on the other. Working through such memorabilia, as well as the tales of the past, can offer ways in which one can come to terms with the inherited detritus of thoughts and memories. As such, this account of the life of a unique and complex individual has also wider relevance in that it addresses age-old questions of the relationship between one generation and the next.

Alexander is a reluctant participant in World War Two. He is one of many Germans who never wanted war, but it takes this teenager on a journey of disillusionment, self-discovery and ultimate growth. Although fiction, the story and characters are based on well-researched facts.

“A first-rate biography of this grand admiral who is better known for his political skills than his naval ones.” —US Naval Insitute Proceedings Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930) was the principal force behind the rise of the German Imperial Navy prior to World War I, challenging Great Britain’s command of the seas. As State Secretary of the Imperial Naval Office from 1897 to 1916, Tirpitz wielded great power and influence over the national agenda during that crucial period. By the time he had risen to high office, Tirpitz was well equipped to use his position as a platform from which to dominate German defense policy. Though he was cool to the potential of the U-boat, he enthusiastically supported a torpedo boat branch of the navy and began an ambitious building program for battleships and battle cruisers. Based on exhaustive archival research, including new material from family papers, Tirpitz and the Imperial German Navy is the first extended study in English of this germinal figure in the growth of the modern navy. “Well written and based on new sources . . . allows the reader deep insights into the life of a man who played a very important role at the turn of the last century and who, like almost nobody else, shaped German policy.” —International Journal of Maritime History “An invaluable reference work on Tirpitz, the Imperial German Navy, and on politics in Wilhelmine Germany.” —The Northern Mariner