The Long Ride of Major Von Schill
A Journey Through German History and Memory- Authors:
- Publisher:
- 2008
Summary
This unique book traces the past 200 years of German history, using an iconic German folk hero as a bellwether of changing politics and culture. In 1809, at the height of Napoleon's power in Europe, the Prussian Major Ferdinand von Schill led a revolt against the French empire. Within a month his rebellion was crushed, and Schill became a martyr for German nationalists. As the years passed, Schill's legend grew and evolved until he had become one of Germany's most famous and celebrated Napoleonic figures: the subject of hundreds of novels, poems, plays, operas, films, biographies, and monuments.
Sam A. Mustafa explores the radical changes in German society and politics in the two centuries since Schill's death. In the first English-language work on the subject, he shows how Schill remarkably endured as other heroes fell in and out of fashion. For imperial propagandists, Liberal Democrats, Nazis, and Communists alike, he was a favorite historical icon and cultural touchstone. The author traces how an obscure failed rebel became a revered national symbol of patriotism and heroism and the ways each successive German regime coopted his story for its own ideological mission. Drawing on a rich array of primary and secondary sources, Mustafa considers the nature of patriotism, the creation of heroes and heroic mythology, and the fragility of history itself in a masterful narrative that will be an invaluable reference for anyone interested in the German experience during the Napoleonic Wars.
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Bibliographic data
- Copyright year
- 2008
- ISBN-Print
- 978-0-7425-5697-3
- ISBN-Online
- 978-0-7425-5743-7
- Publisher
- Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 326
- Product type
- Book Titles
Table of contents
- Contents No access
- Preface No access
- cknowledgments No access
- A Note Regarding Translation and Spelling No access
- Abbreviations Used in the Notes No access
- Chapter 01. I Would Rather Die a Thousand Deaths No access Pages 1 - 30
- Chapter 02. He Could DoWonderful Things No access Pages 31 - 70
- Chapter 03. An End with Terrors No access Pages 71 - 122
- Chapter 04. Spirit of Our Ferdinand No access Pages 123 - 152
- Chapter 05. Triumphant, Dangerous Magic No access Pages 153 - 184
- Chapter 06. Empire of Memory No access Pages 185 - 210
- Chapter 07. All Is Not Lost No access Pages 211 - 230
- Chapter 08. He Is a Soldier, and Must Obey No access Pages 231 - 256
- Chapter 09. More Than Just Blood or Homeland No access Pages 257 - 278
- Epilogue: Schill Street No access Pages 279 - 294
- Bibliography No access Pages 295 - 308
- Index No access Pages 309 - 312
- About the Author No access Pages 313 - 316
- photospread No access Pages 317 - 326





