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Thread of reading recommendations on the history of Imperial Germany. Please share if you wish. I have done threads on some of these.

Bismarck: Its hard to pick my favorite Bismarck biography, but the one pictured below is up there. This one is two vols. Erich Eyk has a three volume biography as well. If you want a concise read, A.J.P. Taylor's biography is good, and the most recent is Jonathan Steinbergs.

This a good combo of general history/Bismarck biography. Erich Eyk's "Bismarck and the German Empire".

This a dual biography focusing on Bismarck and Gerson von Bleichroder (Bismarck's personal banker and general banking/econ advisor, who was Jewish by birth). A real good economic history of Reich as well a look at place/influence of Jews in Reich.

Good concise biography of Kaiser Wilhelm by Christopher Clark who is one of the more decent popular historians of Prussia and the Reich. There is an English language version of this in the "Profiles in Power" series.

One of the most important books for understanding Imperial Germany. Written by Geoff Eley and David Blackbourn, two English speaking Marxist historians of Germany, this text provides a good overview of sonderweg thesis as well post-marxist objections to it.

A traditional post-WWII sonderweg interpretation of Imperial Germany. Other good overviews include Wolfgang Mommsen's Imperial Germany, 1867-1918" and V.A. Berghan's "Imperial Germany, 1871-1914".

Understanding the Prussian military is essential to understanding Imperial Germany. Gordon Craig's "Politics of the Prussian Army" is one my personal favorites. This is not traditional military history, but looks at the role of Prussian military in domestic politics.

Daaniel Hughes "Imperial Germany and War, 1871-1918" is also good for military matters. I am not well read on all the wars of unification or I would make a recommendation there as well (conflicts with Austria, Denmark, France in 1860's) .

I am also not particularly well read on WWI itself and Germany's role in it. One of the recent books I have read that is very Good is Alexander Watson's "Ring of Steel" which focuses the entire WWI Axis war effort.

What I lack in expertise on the war itself, I make up for in understanding the diplomatic history leading up to war. Paul Kennedy's "The Rise of Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860-1914" is a fairly even handed understanding of the underlying causes of Anglo-German antagonism.

V.A Berghan's "Germany and the Approach of War in 1914" is a concise history of diplomatic blunders and domestic factors involved in German foreign policy. Puts a good bit of blame on Germany, but still important. Of course, all of Fritz Fischer's books fall into this category.

If you are looking for a recent history on the Diplomatic events leading up to WWI in general, Clark's "The Sleepwalkers" is the best, does not solely put blame on Germany. If you must read Fischer, his main English translation book is "Germany's Aims in the First World War".

Cant forget Tirpitz, my favorite military figure from Imperial Germany. His memoirs are decent, but this is a good overview on his career in Navy.

David Blackbourn;s "Marpingen". Good social history of Imperial Germany focusing on three girls who claimed to see visions of the virgin mother in Catholic Germany. Goes deep into questions of religion and modernity in German empire, highly recommend.

Conceptions of German colonialism and imperialism is often misunderstood (it was not always identical to French and English concepts). A good overview that extends into 3rd Reich is Baranowski's "Nazi Empire". Sebastian Conrad's "German Colonialism" is concise but very detailed

The book below I have not read, but I read a review and its looks quite good. Peters was the German equivalent of Stanley or Livingstone and had a strong influence on how Imperial Germany thought of/justified its own unique type of imperialism/colonialism.

If there is one somewhat obscure figure that I would recommend reading about to understand the German empire its Walther Rathenau. I read this biography for school and it made me interested in this guy.

Studying someone like Walther Rathenau is a good start for those who want to understand the role of Jews in imperial Germany, but Helmut Walser Smith's "The Butchers Tale" is an excellent micro-history that reads like a true crime thriller.

It looks at the brutal murder of a gentile boy in East Prussia in which a Jewish butcher is accused.The case is interesting on its own, but this small case study helps one understand how the Prussian state dealt with populist antisemitism.Spoiler alert: they didnt like it

These are two good books on the political right in Imperial Germany. Eleys book is a post-Marxist analysis of early right wing nationalists ability to mobilize popular support among specific burgeoning classes.

Retallacks book is more of a straightforward political/intellectual history of rightist politics.There are a lot of good studies on the right and right nationalism in imperial Germany. Fritz Stern's "The Politics of Cultural Despair" covers a few important figures for far-right

My favorite study on industrialization in Germany is Borchhardt's "Die Industrielle Revolution in Deutschland", unfortunately this is not available in English. Veblen's "Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution" is a classic that provides most of the relevant info.

The historical sociologist Charles Tilly Just published a new book "From Old Regime to Industrial State" which is a revisionist take on the old narratives about industrialization in Germany. Primarily challenges notion that industrialization in Germany was a quick process.

Finally, this book doesn't fall into any particular category, but Mommsen's "Max Weber and German Politics" is a great study. Understanding Weber's particular variant of modernism is important for understanding both the Reich and preceding Weimar state.