Tirpitz and the Imperial German Navy is an important book for those seeking to understand the factors contributing to the outbreak of World War I.
* The NYMAS REVIEW *
An invaluable addition to military biography shelves, Tirpitz and the Imperial German Navy is especially recommended for college library collections.
* Midwest Book Review *
[T]he book is stellar. It is based on decades of research in federal, regional, and private archives and takes into account a flood of scholarship on Tirpitz and the fleet. Well written and sensibly organized, the book allows English-language readers their first in-depth look at one of the men who helped shape the 20th century.
* Naval History *
The author does a masterful job of analyzing Tirpitz' political skills, his mastery of technology and change, as well as the grave weaknesses of the dysfunctional political system of a federal Germany headed by a weak and vacillating Emperor and riven by unbridgeable political divisions. Highly recommended.
* Camaraderie *
Kelly's fascinating political biography of Alfred von Tirpitz joins the large historiography on German naval policy prior to WWI. . . . Recommended.
* Choice *
Kelly's book is a great achievement. Well written and based on new sources, his biography of Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz allows the reader deep insights into the life of a man who played a very important role at the turn of the last century and who shaped German policy in a way few others did.
* gh.oxfordjournals.org *
How, as a naval officer, [Tirpitz] . . . became probably the second most effective politician in the history of Imperial Germany is a fascinating story. It is well told in this large, comprehensive and extensively researched book.
* Ausmarine *
Although this is a scholarly biography, it is in everyway quite readable. Backed by solid research, using untapped and newly available documents and family letters, Kelly has produced a clear picture of one of the major causes of World War I.
* thepastinreview.weebly.com *
Patrick Kelly has produced a first-rate biography of this grand admiral who is better known for his political skills than his naval ones.
* U.S. Naval Insitute Proceedings *
This is an invaluable reference work on Tirpitz, the Imperial German Navy, and on politics in Wilhelmine Germany.
* The Northern Mariner *
[This] book presents a balanced, convincing picture of Tirpitz as naval officer and bureaucratic politician, based on a thorough examination of the relevant archival sources. It is a distinguished contribution to the historiography of imperial Germany.
* Journal of Modern History *
