I was just at a bookstore and bought it. Is it any good?

I've been reading up on the German Empire lately after playing an unhealthy amount of Victoria 2 (with awesome mods). After playing as Prussia and unifying Germany, it got me thinking; why did it take so long for the Germans to unify into a single nation? (I'm aware that the Austrian south germans didn't unify into this new german empire, but still; most of them did). Why did it take so long for a single german nation state to be formed when the French had a single unified French nation for hundreds of years (as did the English). Even the Russians had a single unified nation for hundreds of years by the time the germans finally got around to making one. It seems like it would've been in the German's best interests to unify, as together the German Empire became one of the foremost industrial and military superpowers of Europe, as well as becoming a colonial power. So why did it take so long for the Germans to unify? What sort of barriers (economical, political, social, cultural, military) stood in the way of german unification?

Rep will say that Dems are responsible for slavery; Dems say the party platforms switched over time.

I've read articles that this switch is a myth, that many racist Democrats from that time stayed Democrats the remainder of their career. There were other articles I won't list here unless deemed necessary later and I can post references in the comments.

I understand they knew he was amassing forces but were they genuinely aware of just how big and strong an army he was creating? I know they wanted to avoid war a second time but didn't anyone think Hitler was planning for a second war?

I was doing some history delving on my own, and learned that Lithuania did have a king for a short period of time (a single monarch), but after his assassination the new Lithuanian rulers were Grand Dukes, not kings. There were a couple attempts to reestablish the kingdom but all failed.

Why couldn't they just declare a new king? And why didn't the dude who came next in the line of succession not call himself a king?

I'm interested in this because of my grandmother, who was born around 1920 in England, and became a GP and later on a psychiatrist. I'm wondering how common this would have been when she began her career, and what attitudes people would have had towards her. Would she have been more respected/listened to as a male doctor?

Germany is notorious for it's factured past, which is evident in the many different names that other nations have for them (Allemande, Niemcy, etc.). Perhaps I'm missing something about the German language, but afaik Germany is pretty much always called Deutschland. How was this chosen?

I'm a philosophy student between undergrad and grad school- a friend of mine and I are planning on reading Origins of Totalitarianism this month, but sadly cannot read it cover to cover at this time. I was hoping that someone might be willing to offer recommendations on more theoretical chapters that most prominently express her thesis. Thank you!

Disregarding tactical innovations and numbers, how did the actual tank designs of the early Panzers fare against similar French and British designs?

Seeing as Germany was somewhat restricted by the Versailles ban on building tanks, one would have the impression that they would have had less time and room to design good tanks compared to a nation like Britian.

As far as I'm aware the German army was largely (if not completely) loyal to the very end, but the navy was a hotbed of mutinous soldiers , especially at Kiel - why? What made the Navy less disciplined/less happy with the war or why was the army so compliant to orders?

As I was playing Total War and my Friend Red Orchestra he told me that the Red Army was the biggest army ever fielded, but I think it was the Mongols.

Am I right or am I wrong?

What the title says. Especially since the empire stopped expanding.

When did the practice of granting farmland to retired soldiers stop? Or did it last until the fall of the empire (what did the Eastern Roman Empire do then?)

Were there limitations?, were fossil fuels cheaper? Or was it simply not understood enough to make a electric car?

After hearing about all that controversy regarding ethnic and colonial troops at Dunkirk it got me wondering about the Indian participation in the war. So my question is, why did nearly 2.5 million Indians fight for the British during WW2?

How much of it was because of duress (or anything like that) and how much of it was out of patriotism and loyalty to the Empire?