Noussanne, Henri de. The kaiser as he is; or, The real William II.; tr. from the French by Walter Littlefield. [**]$1.25. Putnam.
From the point of view of one “who does not like the Germans and hardly seeks to conceal his contempt for distinctive German qualities,” we have an intimate, graphic, much biased, and at times sarcastic sketch of the German emperor, including domestic, social, political, national and international relations. There are chapters dealing with Germany at the accession of William II.; with the manner in which “this young man” rid himself of Bismarck; the imperial treatment of the Poles; William II. and socialism; William II. as a family man, as guest and landlord, at home and on his travels, as head of the army, as bandmaster, painter, patron, etc.
“It is sensational journalism in all its horror. In the less objectionable portions of the book there is a mixture of readable gossip, more or less well founded, with mere padding.”
| — + | Ath. 1905, 1: 398. Ap. 1. 140w. |
“The translator has, in general, done his work acceptably, though numerous misprints and mistakes in capitalization are to be noted, and there are many minor errors of statement that might well have been corrected in the English version. The chief objection to the book is, however, the prejudice of the author.”
| + — | Dial. 38: 274. Ap. 16. ‘05. 230w. |
“Pity it is that M. de Noussanne did not use a finer satirical pen and a less spiteful, even tho he has given evidence as to the healing of the Sedan wound.”
| + — | Ind. 58: 725. Mr. 30, ‘05. 180w. |
“There is obvious malice, obvious Gallic animus, obvious indulgence of a spirit of levity and mockery, obvious hospitality to anecdotes in which the kaiser is a figure of comic opera. Mr. Littlefield, whose translation is at many points very happy and who has caught the spirit of the whole excellently, regards the more serious parts of the book with perhaps a little too much favor.”
| + + — | N. Y. Times. 10: 100. F. 18, ‘05. 1570w. |