The Life of the Last German Emperor by Christopher Clark follows the career of the last German Emperor: his difficult youth at court, the establishment of his power, as well as his political conflicts and goals. With the First World War and the defeat of the German Empire, Wilhelm II's reign also comes to an end. The Emperor abdicates and must spend the rest of his life in exile. Clark's meticulously researched book offers a new, at times quite provocative interpretation of the controversial monarch and his thirty-year reign. Would Germany have taken a different path if a ruler other than Wilhelm II had led the country into the 20th century? To what extent did his personality shape German fortunes? Christopher Clark initially focuses on Wilhelm's childhood and youth, examining his father and grandfather, and thus two political figures.