{"product_id":"the-vanished-kingdom-travels-through-the-history-of-prussia","title":"The Vanished Kingdom: Travels Through The History Of Prussia","description":"\u003cp\u003eTwice in this century  Germany initiated wars of unimagined terror and destruction. In both cases  defense of the Prussian realm  the German homeland  was the perceived and vilified perpetrator. Few today understand with any precision what Prussia means  either geographically or nationalistically  but neither would they deny the psychic resonance of the single word. To most  it means unbridled aggression  the image of the goose-stepping Junker .But what was once Prussia is now a significant portion of Eastern Europe  a contested homeland first won by Christian knights of the Teutonic Order. For centuries thereafter its terrain has been crisscrossed by war and partitioned by barbed wire. In its final catastrophe of 1945  nearly two million German refugees fled the region as Russian armies broke the eastern front  perhaps the greatest dislocation of a civilian population at any time during World War II. With the Berlin Wall now a memory and the Soviet Union in a state of collapse  this remains a geography in shambles. Modern travelers can now  for the first time in decades  see and ponder for themselves what Prussia really was and now is.James Charles Roy and Amos Elon  two writers noted for their inquisitive natures  have gone to search through the rubble themselves. They intermingle present-day observations with moving vignettes from the German and Prussian past  sketching a portrait of the Europe we know today. The story is spiced with interviews and reminiscences  unforgettable in their sadness  of people looking back at a life now gone  a life full of turmoil and heartache  memories both fond and tragic. The final result: a far deeper understanding of the tattered lands of todays Eastern Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946446549045,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813336678","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780813336671.jpg?v=1769949517","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-vanished-kingdom-travels-through-the-history-of-prussia","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}