Frederick the Great was a multi-faceted character, a militarist, a philosopher, an enlightened despot, a musician, and a composer.

In addition, he wrote a history of the Hohnzollerns entitled "Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg." The book traces the history of the Hohenzollerns from early days in Bavaria until the death of his father, King Frederick WIlliam 1st of Prussia, known as the Soldier King.

He is forthright about the failings of some of his ancestors, even of his grandfather, who ... more »

Frederick the Great was a multi-faceted character, a militarist, a philosopher, an enlightened despot, a musician, and a composer.

In addition, he wrote a history of the Hohnzollerns entitled "Memoirs of the House of Brandenburg." The book traces the history of the Hohenzollerns from early days in Bavaria until the death of his father, King Frederick WIlliam 1st of Prussia, known as the Soldier King.

He is forthright about the failings of some of his ancestors, even of his grandfather, who secured the status of a monarchy for Prussia.

The book is of interest to students of military history, particularly as his strategies were the ancestors of the Blitzkrieg. But it also explains the non-military methods whereby the greatness of Prussia was achieved.

Outside its immediate sphere, there is considerable matter on European history generally, including the Reformation, and his evaluations of Louis 14th of France.

Frederick chose to write the book in French, which he considered the most cultured language. A translation was made into English in 1758, but I have found it unsatisfactory. It was not made from the final version of the original, and does not contain a chapter on Frederick's father. The use of the letter 'f' instead of 's' makes reading tedious, there are many typographical errors, and it seems that wherever the translator found a sentence too difficult, he omitted it.

I therefore determined to make my own translation from the original edition in possession of the University of Triers, to whom I am obliged for their service to the public in making it available on the Internet.  Less