Winner of the Wolfson History Prize Christopher Clark's Iron Kingdom: The Rise & Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947" is a compelling account of a country that played a pivotal role in Europe's fortunes & fundamentally shaped our world. Prussia began as a medieval backwater but transformed itself into a major European power & the force behind the creation of the German empire until it was finally abolished by the Allies after the Second World War. With great flair & authority Christopher Clark describes Prussia's great battles dynastic marriages & astonishing reversals of fortune its brilliant & charismatic leaders from the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg to Bismarck & Frederick the Great the military machine & the progressive enlightened values on which it was built. " Fascinating.. .masterly.. .littered with intriguing detail & wry observation". (Richard Overy " Daily Telegraph"). "A terrific book.. .the definitive history of this much-maligned state". (" Daily Telegraph Books of the Year"). " You couldn't have the triumph & the tragedy of Prussia better told". (" Observer"). "A magisterial history of Europe's only extinct power". (" Financial Times"). " Exemplary.. .an illuminating profoundly satisfying work of history". (" The New York Times"). Christopher Clark is a lecturer in Modern European History at St Catharine's College University of Cambridge. He is also the author of " Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power"."