Greatly Belated Book Reviews: Dreadnought

And now for something completely different.

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War is an immense volume cataloging the history that ultimately led to the first World War, from the perspective of the great European powers and with special emphasis on the role played by British naval power.

Considering my penchant for rather, uh, wacky material, you might find it surprising that I would also find a detailed, exhaustive book on history entertaining. Well, go ahead and be surprised, because I am just one complex guy. (Cough.)

Anyway, Dreadnought is all about big things that make other big things go boom, and about crazy people who were in charge of too much stuff. When I put it that way, the connection is more obvious. (Although I really do enjoy it for its historical context. No, really. I mean it. Seriously.)

And I really did learn a lot. For instance, did you know that Kaiser Wilhelm/William II had a stunted left arm because it was dislocated when he was born? It's thought that many of the man's neuroses can be laid at the feet... er, at the hand?... of this injury. Also, Wilhelm had an enormous respect for his grandmother which prevented him from even considering attacking Britain during her lifetime or the decade after her death. Of course, his grandmother was Queen Victoria of Britain...

The one that always gets me is what I read about Otto von Bismarck and Victoria, who were long hostile to each other. When they were going to meet in person for the first time, Bismarck wanted very badly to avoid the woman he regarded as his enemy and a crazy old lady. When they were actually introduced, however, the two of them practically fell down complementing one another, and both reported being immensely charmed by the other. (Queen Victoria actually was "mostly German," in the words of the book, which partly explains their interaction.)

What these anecdotes actually drive home is that war between Britain and Germany had never been inevitable-in fact, the two nations were great friends, constantly swapping royals and all that. It was a combination of incompatible ambitions and lack of tact that led the two royal families into antagonism with each other, and eventually war.

British naval power, of course, was the primary issue. Britain couldn't be a world power if it was not the greatest naval power; any army that bypassed the navy (War of the Worlds, anyone?) would have free reign throughout Britain, and so Britain needed to have at least as much naval power as two or three other countries put together, preferably more.

The H.M.S. Dreadnought, of course, was central to all this, thus the title of the book. It further highlights the fact that the buildup to WWI was one of history's first "modern" arms races.

So, yeah, if you like history at all, this is a good book right here.

-Signing off.