I would have given this book three and a half stars if I could of. It was a bit slow at times. It was written in 1918. It is the profile of a bougie german who managed to justify doing all sorts of horrible things. And it is a profile of Germany before the wars. Its amazing how little has changed. Still plagued with materialism, militarism, classism, religion, sexism, and reverence for authority. Its like only the fashions have changed in a century.