Carl Schurz was born in Germany in the early 19th century. In his late teens and into his early 20s, Schurz took an active role in the German Revolutions of 1848 that attempted to unify the country and institute representative government. He eventually came to the U.S., where he became a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War, then a congressman, and finally Secretary of the Interior! Wow!

This first volume of Schurz's 3-volume memoirs cover his middle class childhood, continues through his activities in the German Revolutions and ends with his departure for America. Along the way, Schurz provides a quick but very readable background of the German political developments that led to the upheavals. He does quite a good job describing his own exciting (as he tells it, anyway) participation in the fighting, including a daring escape from capture and certain execution at the hands of the reactionary Prussian forces. Later, Schurz describes his leading role in the rescue from prison of one of the revolutions leading lights.

It's all quite fascinating in the telling for anyone interested in the time period. How true to life all of the narrative really is, well, who knows? I'm assuming Schurz is providing us with at least a facsimile as events as they occurred in his life. I only had the shallowest of knowledge about these events, dating back to an excellent high school history class that covered, in part, the European anti-monarchial struggles of this period. Educational and fun to read. ( )