Written in exile after his abdication, The Kaiser’s Memoirs is Wilhelm II’s personal defense of his reign as German Emperor and King of Prussia. The last of the Hohenzollerns recounts his upbringing, his stormy relationships with Bismarck and the European royal houses, and his version of the diplomatic crises that led to the catastrophe of 1914. It is a revealing self-portrait of monarchy in its final imperial phase.
The memoir is as interesting for what it conceals as for what it reveals, offering a window into the mind of a ruler who never reconciled himself to the collapse of his dynasty. Readers of royal biography and First World War history will find a primary source charged with grievance, pride, and the vanished grandeur of the German court. This free EPUB download presents the full English translation.