The author describes his childhood on his parents' farm in East Prussia and the first school years in Erlenrode und Kuckerneese. The Second World War changes people's lives. As an eleven-year-old boy, along with his mother and two brothers, he experiences the Great Trek on a horse-drawn harvest wagon. It starts in October 1944 and ends six months later in April 1945, after a drive of more than 750 miles through East Prussia, West Prussia, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Lower Saxony to Sievershausen near Hannover, Germany. The stages of their struggle and their encounters along the way are depicted with remarkable honesty. Many striking details, often strange and unimaginable, sometimes touching to the heart, are included.

To A Brighter Future is the story of one family's dream and prayer to make a better life for their children. It tells of the growing-up years in a relatively affluent Germany, which quickly changed during the great inflation of the early twenties, then fell into ruin after World War ll This book chronicles the immigration of two young people to Canada in 1928 and follows their struggles to create a "brighter future" for their children in a new homeland. For the young man who came first, there was job searching, jumping the freights, and finding the right piece of land. Together, they experienced the trials and adventures of homesteading in the Peace River Country of northern Alberta. There are vivid personal descriptions of education in a one-room country school; the poverty and hardships of the depression years, but also the rich social life and community spirit of that difficult era. Also portrayed is the fear and anxiety when illness, accident and tragedy struck an isolated wilderness home. The far-reaching effects of World War ll are portrayed in a very personal manner by way of a journal written by a German-Canadian civillian prisoner of war, while interned in Kananaskis, Petawawa and Fredricton. The story includes interesting characters, adventure, romance and tragedy, all portrayed in a candid, thoughtful style. The story is greatly enhanced by authentic photographs of the settling years in Western Canada. Also included are numerous excerpts from journals and letters written "at the homestead table," to family in the old homeland, creating a truly authentic story. To a Brighter Future is much more than a story of one family. It's a powerful legacy for every community that felt "the settling pains" of a new homeland.

Life in Marienburg, Germany, in November 1929 was traumatic. The stock market and banks of Germany collapsed, the Berlin soup kitchens could not keep up with the hungry, and unemployment skyrocketed. In this town of 30,000, during this defining moment in history, Claus Neumann was born. Neumann captures his fascinating story in a candid memoir that first details his idyllic childhood and then charts his progress as he grows from enthusiastic student, patriot, and member of Hitler Youth, to a disillusioned teen defending his homeland. He inevitably becomes a refugee who flees the Russians from two separate homes before reaching freedom in the West. Along the way, he smuggles, works as a cook's apprentice simply to eat, and serves time as a prisoner in solitary confinement in one of the most notorious political prisons in East Germany. Neumann eventually becomes cynical about systems and politics but remains filled with optimism about life, traveling to many countries and finding an unusual way to immigrate to the United States. Farewell Marienburg provides not only an interesting perspective into a boy's youthful and naïve admiration of Hitler, but also a poignant glimpse into a young man's courage and determination as he struggles to save both himself and his family.

Providing a comprehensive and engaging account of personal unions, composite monarchies and multiple rule in premodern Europe: Unions and Divisions. New Forms of Rule in Medieval and Renaissance Europe uses a comparative approach to examine the phenomena of the medieval and renaissance unions in a pan-European overview. In the later Middle Ages, genealogical coincidences led to caesuras in various dynastic successions. Solutions to these were found, above all, in new constellations which saw one political entity becoming co-managed by the ruler of another in the form of a personal union. In the premodern period, such solutions were characterised by two factors in particular: on the one hand, the entry of two countries into a union did not constitute a military annexation — even though claims to the throne were all too often imposed by force; on the other hand, the new unitarian constellation retained, at least de jure, the independence of its respective components. The twenty-four essays, ranging in scope from Scandinavia to Iberia, from England and France to Central and Eastern Europe, examine whether the respective unions were the result of careful planning and deliberations in the face of a long-foreseen succession crisis or whether they emerged from dynamic developments that were largely reactive and dependent upon various random factors and circumstances. Each union is assessed to provide an understanding, for students and researchers, of the political and social forces involved in the respective countries and investigates how the unions were reflected in contemporary literature (pamphlets, memoranda, chronicles, diaries etc.), propaganda and in legal and historical discourses. This volume is essential reading for students and researchers interested in the history of monarchy, political history and social and cultural histories in premodern Europe.