Forty-seven years ago the Allies Control Council produced the final obsequies of a state which 'from its earliest days had been a bearer of militarism and reaction in Germany'. With this laconic text, Prussia, with its near millennium of history as one of the frontier states of Christian Europe, was cast onto the dung-heap. To many contemporaries, the gesture had a futile ring about it: 'a victorious donkey kicking a long-dead lion'. This book examines Prussia over the years following the creation of the German Empire in 1871. It shows its severe virtues were weathered away by the new imperial idea. It analyses all aspects of the state, entirely distinct, worshiped by some and feared by others. Prussia has been seen as a scapegoat for Nazi Germany. This important book questions the truth behind these charges, examines the historical background, analyses the nature of 'Prussianism' and looks at the traces it has left us with today.

This is a series of reflective essays which pose fundamental and deceptively simple questions about Prussia, which for over fifty years has ceased to exist as a political entity but which continues to exert a strong and unusual influence upon German history and contemporary affairs. Professor von Thadden succeeds in demolishing many of the legends which have surrounded Prussia but pays tribute to the unique role it has played in ushering Germany into the modern world. After dealing with comparatively straightforward questions about periodisation and geographical location, Professor von Thadden proceeds to examine Prussia's social structure, its political character, its relations with Germany, its church and finally, its relations with Europe. Based on a series of radio talks in 1979, the book was originally published as Fragen an Preussen in 1981.

Twice in this century, Germany initiated wars of unimagined terror and destruction. In both cases, defense of the Prussian” realm, the German homeland, was the perceived and vilified perpetrator. Few today understand with any precision what Prussia” means, either geographically or nationalistically, but neither would they deny the psychic resonance of the single word. To most, it means unbridled aggression, the image of the goose-stepping Junker .But what was once Prussia is now a significant portion of Eastern Europe, a contested homeland first won by Christian knights of the Teutonic Order. For centuries thereafter its terrain has been crisscrossed by war and partitioned by barbed wire. In its final catastrophe of 1945, nearly two million German refugees fled the region as Russian armies broke the eastern front, perhaps the greatest dislocation of a civilian population at any time during World War II. With the Berlin Wall now a memory and the Soviet Union in a state of collapse, this remains a geography in shambles. Modern travelers can now, for the first time in decades, see and ponder for themselves what Prussia really was and now is.James Charles Roy and Amos Elon, two writers noted for their inquisitive natures, have gone to search through the rubble themselves. They intermingle present-day observations with moving vignettes from the German and Prussian past, sketching a portrait of the Europe we know today. The story is spiced with interviews and reminiscences, unforgettable in their sadness, of people looking back at a life now gone, a life full of turmoil and heartache, memories both fond and tragic. The final result: a far deeper understanding of the tattered lands of today’s Eastern Europe.

Prussia, a state which contributed so much to European civilization, only exis-ted as an independent power for 170 years. Sebastian Haffner, a Prussian by birth, reassesses the legend and tells the short but dramatic history of this unique state. He casts fresh light on its foundation, its struggle to become a great power in the eighteenth century, its important role as one of the Three Black Eagles with Austria and Russia, and its eventual disappearance from the map of Europe after the establishment of the German Empire.

"普鲁士"早已烟消云散，但其对后世的影响至今在欧洲仍处处可见。它似乎集诸多矛盾于一身，既代表秩序、正直与宽容，也象征着军国主义。普鲁士王国强盛的时期，正是伟大的《德国民法典》从酝酿到诞生的时期。这个"理性国家"与这部"模范法典"，堪称绝配。身为一名普鲁士人，《不含传说的普鲁士》的作者哈夫纳以客观而理性的笔触，回顾了仅存在两百余年的普鲁士在政治法律领域取得的成就，及其对今天的德国乃至世界的影响。

勃蘭登堡-普魯士這個位於日耳曼北部，四面強敵環伺的蕞爾小邦， 何以能夠在短短數代之間，搖身變為稱霸一方的歐陸強權，一直是歐 洲史的重要課題之一。 「鐵血宰相」俾斯麥藉以推動德國統一的普魯士王國，在十七世紀時僅是神聖羅馬帝國境內的一個選侯國。西鄰太陽王路易十四統治的法國，北接軍事強國瑞典，東方則面臨俄羅斯帝國的野心覬覦。而領地的分散與資源有限，以及神聖羅馬帝國皇帝的不信任，更使得勃蘭登堡- 普魯士一直處於勢如危卵的險困局面。經過霍亨索倫家族的幾代明君務實的經營，建立了強大武力及龐大的軍政官僚體系，藉著一連串的外交捭闔與巧取豪奪，終至取代奧地利而成為中 歐強權，也為日後德國的統一奠立了殷實的基礎。

普鲁士是近代欧洲典型的“官僚国家”，具有独特的规范，官员的法律地位、责任和义务、选拔和培训的方式皆有独特模式，在一定程度上体现了时代的特征。普鲁士的官僚阶层是一个特殊的社会等级，其特征是封闭、特权和等级意识，但这些特征不是封建制度下的再版，而是在一定程度上体现了资本主义社会的基本原则。 普鲁士的历史进程刻上了官僚统治的深刻烙印。在经济和社会领域，官僚推动了国家从传统社会向现代社会转型；但在政治领域，官僚却阻碍了民主制度的发展。普鲁士官僚制度是进步和落后的混合体。

《世界历史文化丛书:普鲁士精神和文化》系《世界历史文化丛书》之一种书。在历史上，普鲁士问题是一个德国问题，一个欧洲问题，乃至一个世界问题。而令人惊奇的是，在现实中，普鲁士问题也依然经常若隐若现地作为一个德国问题、欧洲问题乃至世界问题表现出来。这就是人们想探索的“什么是普鲁士”中的深一层问题：普鲁士是一个什么样的国家，有着什么样的精神、文化和传统。作为政治地理概念，普鲁士有三个含义：第一，中世纪曾在德意志骑士团统治下的、波罗的海沿岸的普鲁士人领土；第二，1701-1918年在德意志霍亨索伦家族统治下的普鲁士王国，它是德意志帝国和德意志联邦内的一个邦国；第三，1918年霍亨索伦王朝覆灭后所设的德国的邦。普鲁士业已消逝，但其精神和文化的影响扩及欧洲乃至整个世界。

作为政治地理概念，普鲁士有三个含义：第一，中世纪曾在德意志骑士团统治下的、波罗的海沿岸的普鲁士人领土；第二，1701——1918年在德意志霍亨索伦家族统治下的普鲁士王国，它是德意志帝国和德意志联邦内的一个邦国；第三，1918年霍亨索伦王朝覆灭后所设的德国的帮。从这种意义上我们了解到，普鲁士是一个德意志国家，一个德决志邦国。

《腓特烈大帝》主要内容简介：腓特烈是生性残暴而又富有文化修养的普鲁士国王腓特烈·威廉一世的儿子，年轻的腓特烈丝毫不热衷于权术和战争, 却对文学和艺术很感兴趣, 这使得国王对他的儿子很不以为然。18岁时腓特烈企图逃到英国去, 却被抓回到他盛怒的父亲身边, 命令他看着他的密友和同谋卡茨中尉被斩首，后来他又重获父亲的宠爱, 几年后在父亲的授意下娶了一位德国贵族小姐…… 《腓特烈大帝》是介绍腓特烈大帝的传记。

德国是现代历史科学的发源地，本书研究的是19世纪德国历史学派中最为知名的代表：两位先行者，尼布尔和兰克，他们为后来者奠定了方法，开辟了道路；然后是1848那一代的两位伟大的自由主义历史学家，特奥多尔·蒙森和海因里希·冯·聚贝尔；最后是海因里希·冯·特赖奇克。本书是19世纪德国史学的概览，是一部经久不衰的史学史名作。

该书讲述了拓殖时代、普鲁士精神立国时代、来布尼茨时代、弗里德里希大王时代、康德时代、施泰茵时代、海涅时代、马克思时代等十部分内容。

普魯士是一個神話。對某些人來說，它的名字代表著秩序、正直與寬容；對其他人來說，它卻集軍國主義與反動作風於一身。身為普魯士人的塞巴斯提安．哈夫納現在拋開舊有的傳說，娓娓道出這個國家的歷史──它僅僅以獨立國的身分存在了一百七十年。 哈夫納解釋了普魯士的特殊之處，表明它是一個人工化的產物：普魯士需要極度強烈的自保意志，才得以將分散各地的國土凝聚成一個相互連貫的整體。在數百年的演進過程當中，普魯士是由民情迥異的德意志與斯拉夫殖民地區共同生長而成，缺乏共通的血源或宗教基礎、沒有天然的疆界，以致它只能說是一個「理性國家」。廉潔的政府以及對宗教的寬容，使得普魯士成為十八世紀歐洲最現代化的國家。它的危機閞始於法國大革命，它在建立德意志帝國之後陷入緩慢的死亡，國家社會主義則促成普魯士的毀滅。 塞巴斯提安．哈夫納探討這個不尋常的國度時，心中不存偏見、抱持批判態度，但不無欽佩之意，使得本書成為一部關於普魯士歷史的獨特著作。

1970年諾貝爾文學獎得主索忍尼辛(1918~ )，以幾部長篇小說享譽世界，其實，他也有詩的作品。本書包括兩部分：長詩《普魯士之夜》及16首散文詩。前者長1376行，稱得上是20世紀重要的戰爭史詩， 描述1945年1月，俄軍攻打德國普魯士前線時發生的暴行事件，面對蘇聯軍官公然鼓勵士兵搶劫姦淫，作者提出他的反抗和控訴；後者在短小的美文裡，流露詩人對舊俄時期大自然和唯美的眷戀，也隱微地批判暴政。在史詩的博大與散文詩的精緻中，慢慢體會這位傑出文學家的詩人氣質。