His use of patriotism to the emperor was used when he manipulates someone into stating that the Hohenzollerns were Jews, accusing him of lese-majeste. At that man's trial, Diedrich is accurately portrayed as "an average man, with a commonplace mind,... without courage so long as things are going badly for him and tremendously self-important as soon as they had turned in his favour"

Diedrich doesn't hesitate to make alliances when expedient and to boost his star higher, such as his association with his nemesis, Napoleon Fischer, a Social Democrat machinist at his factory. On one occasion, to cover up his own mistake in miscalculating the dimensions of the New Patent Cylinder Machine, he bribed Fischer to sabotage the machine so that he had a case to return it. Later, the two agreed to help each other in their political ambitions.

Thus Diedrich used his patriotism and anti-Social Democratic stance as ways to boost himself onward and upward, yet willing to make alliances with his alleged enemies, similar to the way Bismarck used nationalism as a tool to rally the Liberals against his wars against Austria and the south German states against France, all for his own personal power.

The importance of Wilhelm II's attempted surpassing of Bismarck must be reiterated. Diedrich's colleague warns people of the danger of any man emulating Bismarck: "Weak and pacifistic by nature, he becomes noisy and dangerous. Without a doubt the victories of his vanity will serve commercial ends. First his travesty of opinion brings a man to prison for lese-majeste. Afterwards he reaps his profit" So by virtue of the chain rule, Diedrich was in fact emulating Bismarck, making him not only a mini-Kaiser, but also a mini-Iron Chancellor. And this illustrates Mann's criticism of Bismarck's self-motivating political profit, perpetuated in the person of Diedrich.

Mann's novel is a portrait of pre-war Wilhelmine Germany (1888-1914). He thus saw as reasons for Germany's defeat in World War I the blind nationalism of the people and their obedience to the autocratic rule of the Kaiser. It's a warning to be heeded by any nation making rumblings toward war.

Stylistically, Heinrich Mann has a lot in common with social realists like his American contemporary Sinclair Lewis. Like Lewis, he presents his main character, Diedrich Hessling, as an object of contempt rather than a person to sympathize with (although Lewis, arguably, shows some sympathy for his goofy realtor). Diedrich, simply put, is a real weasel with no redeeming qualities. We watch him grow from a small boy, fearful of a bullying father, into an arrogant and unscrupulous middle-aged man.

Diedrich is cowardly, irresponsible, and completely selfish--and what is worse, he goes to great lengths to make himself appear as a hardworking, honest, patriotic citizen. A lot of the time he is able to fool his peers and his betters. But there are a couple of critical moments when the facade threatens to drop away (for instance, when a doctor who helped Diedrich fake a medical condition in order to avoid the draft threatens to expose his patient as a coward) and we see Diedrich sweat and panic. But he somehow manages, slimy worm that he is, to wriggle out of these difficult situations and come through unscathed.

The novel is set in Germany shortly before the Great War. We see the Kaiser beginning to whip the country up into a frenzy of pseudo-patriotism and warmongering. Diedrich enthusiastically participates in all this so much so that he becomes a sort of prototype of the brownshirt thug who would terrorize Germany in the years leading up to the Nazi seizure of power.

All in all, a very solid portrait of a particular type of person whom we can all recognize. An enjoyable read, too.

Excerpts "These books are massive, authoritative expositions of synchronization;their authors are long-time researchers in the field. Heretofore there has been no book, to my knowledge that provides a comprehensive up-to-date account of sync.of data signals-until now"

"Both books are directed at advanced graduate students, seasoned practicioners, or active researchers"

(About the book' Digital Communication receiver') "(But) this book is without peer for someone who wants to probe into the underlying foundations of data signal reception, or to cope with difficult fading channels" "

Through my studies I've come to distinguish (contrary to some) between what I call unconscious, conscious, and willful sins. The first involves sins of character and attitude that we are not yet aware of in ourselves and include "sins of ignorance". The second, usually considered synonymous with the third by some, involves becoming conscious of what was previously unconscious for the purpose of repentance. It also includes our awareness of our sinful nature that produces internal temptations (via sinful desires) that we can overcome through our submission to the Holy Spirit. Arnold, in Chapter II, states that "temptation is not sin" (pg. 10). I would qualify this by saying that all temptation is sin, but not sin from the one being tempted. I believe this was Arnold's point since some Christians condemn themselves for being tempted. Our sinful nature "tempts" us internally and contributes to any external temptation, but we are not to deliberately fulfill its sinful desires. What I call "willful sin" equates, more or less, to what Arnold calls "deliberate" sin and involves our deliberate refusal to submit to God and the moral light he gives us both in our conscience and in His Word, the Bible. I personally think that willful sin should be distinguished from our sinful nature (ref. Romans 7:20 in context) and its lusts. To help others understand my distinction between conscious and willful sin, I point out that all willful sin is conscious (choosing sin knowing it is sin) but not all conscious sin is willful, but the definition of each category needs refinement. Other books discussing sin and holiness that warrant a comparative analysis with this one and, in some ways, complement and reinforce its points, include such classics as: "Sin and Temptation: The Challenge of Personal Godliness" by John Owen, edited by James Houston; "A Serious Call to a Devout & Holy Life" by William Law; "Introduction to the Devout Life" by Francis de Sales; "Purity of Heart" by Soren Kierkegaard; and "Holy Living and Holy Dying" by Jeremy Taylor. A more recent, but good, Protestant analysis of sin is "Offense to Reason: A Theology of Sin" by Bernard Ramm. See also "Five Views on Sanctification," from the Zondervan Counterpoint series, edited by Stanley Gundry.

Indologist Heinrich Zimmer provides an easy to comprehend text taking four time-out-of-mind-myths and relating them to the esoteric "grail" path! It makes an excellent study for the seeker/student who would wish to follow Wolfgang Von Eckenback's "I learned my ABC's without the use of black magic".

In this writers opinion very few scholars have been suited to blend eastern thought processess into western concepts. Zimmer adeptly crosses this void as if stepping over a puddle of water, making "The King and The Corpse" highly informative and a joy of the heart to ponder.

If you are a seeker on any esoteric path you will find yourself and your 'map' within it's cover.

Shri Rajeshwari Pujari Maharaja

As history they are completely worthless, but one can still admire the craft that went into their forging.

Update: 10/14/2002.

Further research suggests to this writer that the documents relied upon by Mr. Douglas are not fakes or forgeries.

A word of caution - this is not a book for people seeking warm fuzzy feelings about cute furry little creatures. It is a book about reality in its full splendor.

Heinrich is a scientist with a wonderful breadth of knowledge,
and a superb talent for relating his love for nature, his
appetite for discovery, and his humorous insights in a style
which gives enormous pleasure to the reader.