John C. G. Röhl is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Sussex. His many previous publications include The Kaiser and his Court (1994) which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize as well as the two other volumes of his biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II – Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888–1900 (Cambridge, 2004), which have won the Einhard Prize for the biography of a major European figure in 2012, and Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941 (2014).

Review of the hardback: 'It is a masterpiece … enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times

• Preface to the English edition; Introduction to the German edition; 1. Birth trauma: 'It's alive and it's a prince'; 2. Disorder and early sorrow; 3. Ambivalent motherhood; 4. An English princess at the Prussian court; 5. Blood and history; 6. Education fit for a king; 7. The doctor; 8. Trials and tribulations; 9. Experiment in Kassel; 10. Spring dreams and awakening; 11. Coming of age; 12. The student prince; 13. A question of balance: the inner-ear illness of Kaiser Wilhelm II; 14. Cabal and love; 15. Estrangement; 16. Politics; 17. First steps in foreign affairs: Prince Wilhelm between England and Russia; 18. Eros and Austria; 19. 'W. W. W.': Wilhelm-Wedel-Waldersee; 20. Prince Wilhelm and the Battenberg conspiracy; 21. The crown prince's nightmares; 22. The gradual seizure of power; 23. Waldersee and the world conflagration; 24. The edge of darkness: the crown prince on the eve of catastrophe; 25. The flight of the crown prince in the face of death; 26. Prince Wilhelm and Queen Victoria's Jubilee; 27. Crisis in San Remo; 28. The Stoecker meeting and the break with the Bismarcks; 29. Prince Wilhelm and the war party; 30. Preparing for power; 31. The macabre race for the throne; 32. Impotence and agony; Notes; List of archival sources; List of books cited; Index.

John C. G. Röhl is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Sussex. His many previous publications include The Kaiser and his Court (1994) which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize as well as the two other volumes of his biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II – Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888–1900 (Cambridge, 2004), which have won the Einhard Prize for the biography of a major European figure in 2012, and Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941 (2014).

Review of the hardback: 'It is a masterpiece … enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times

• Preface to the English edition; Introduction to the German edition; 1. Birth trauma: 'It's alive and it's a prince'; 2. Disorder and early sorrow; 3. Ambivalent motherhood; 4. An English princess at the Prussian court; 5. Blood and history; 6. Education fit for a king; 7. The doctor; 8. Trials and tribulations; 9. Experiment in Kassel; 10. Spring dreams and awakening; 11. Coming of age; 12. The student prince; 13. A question of balance: the inner-ear illness of Kaiser Wilhelm II; 14. Cabal and love; 15. Estrangement; 16. Politics; 17. First steps in foreign affairs: Prince Wilhelm between England and Russia; 18. Eros and Austria; 19. 'W. W. W.': Wilhelm-Wedel-Waldersee; 20. Prince Wilhelm and the Battenberg conspiracy; 21. The crown prince's nightmares; 22. The gradual seizure of power; 23. Waldersee and the world conflagration; 24. The edge of darkness: the crown prince on the eve of catastrophe; 25. The flight of the crown prince in the face of death; 26. Prince Wilhelm and Queen Victoria's Jubilee; 27. Crisis in San Remo; 28. The Stoecker meeting and the break with the Bismarcks; 29. Prince Wilhelm and the war party; 30. Preparing for power; 31. The macabre race for the throne; 32. Impotence and agony; Notes; List of archival sources; List of books cited; Index.

John C. G. Röhl is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Sussex. His many previous publications include The Kaiser and his Court (1994) which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize as well as the two other volumes of his biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II – Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888–1900 (Cambridge, 2004), which have won the Einhard Prize for the biography of a major European figure in 2012, and Wilhelm II: Into the Abyss of War and Exile, 1900–1941 (2014).

Review of the hardback: 'It is a masterpiece … enthrallingly readable.' Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Times

• Preface to the English edition; Introduction to the German edition; 1. Birth trauma: 'It's alive and it's a prince'; 2. Disorder and early sorrow; 3. Ambivalent motherhood; 4. An English princess at the Prussian court; 5. Blood and history; 6. Education fit for a king; 7. The doctor; 8. Trials and tribulations; 9. Experiment in Kassel; 10. Spring dreams and awakening; 11. Coming of age; 12. The student prince; 13. A question of balance: the inner-ear illness of Kaiser Wilhelm II; 14. Cabal and love; 15. Estrangement; 16. Politics; 17. First steps in foreign affairs: Prince Wilhelm between England and Russia; 18. Eros and Austria; 19. 'W. W. W.': Wilhelm-Wedel-Waldersee; 20. Prince Wilhelm and the Battenberg conspiracy; 21. The crown prince's nightmares; 22. The gradual seizure of power; 23. Waldersee and the world conflagration; 24. The edge of darkness: the crown prince on the eve of catastrophe; 25. The flight of the crown prince in the face of death; 26. Prince Wilhelm and Queen Victoria's Jubilee; 27. Crisis in San Remo; 28. The Stoecker meeting and the break with the Bismarcks; 29. Prince Wilhelm and the war party; 30. Preparing for power; 31. The macabre race for the throne; 32. Impotence and agony; Notes; List of archival sources; List of books cited; Index.