John Roehl was a historian of Imperial Germany and Europe, whose crucial work on the German emperor inspired the composition of this book, but who sadly passed away in October 2023. Most notable for his three-volume biography of Germany’s last emperor, Roehl transformed understandings of the causes of World War I and II. Over his career, he taught at the Universities of Hamburg, Freiburg, Princeton, and, for many years, at Sussex, which awarded him emeritus status in 1999. He won numerous awards, including the Wolfson Prize and the Einhard Prize for European Biography.

Volker Berghahn is the Seth Low Emeritus Professor of History at Columbia University. He has written on European-American business and cultural relations for many years and more recently returned to the study of modern German history in the 20th century. His recent publications include: Journalists between Hitler and Adenauer (2018), Hans-Günther Sohl als Stahlunternehmer und Präsident des Bundesverbandes der Deutschen Industrie (2020) and The Insider-Outsider of Early-Twentieth Century German Industry (2024).