On 1 August 1714 George I was proclaimed king, bringing Britain and his native Hanover into personal union and founding the dynasty that has ruled Britain ever since. It marked the beginning of a close yet fraught relationship that would shape the destiny of both Britain and Germany, with profound consequences for Europe and the world.

Great Powers tells the story of this relationship over the three centuries since, from ancestral alliance to bitter enmity and, eventually, reconciliation. Its sweep takes in not only the competition and crises that led to war and dictatorship, but also the great cultural achievements the entanglement of two peoples brought: the birth of new ideas, music, art and literature. Drawing on diaries, letters and many other first-hand accounts, it shows events unfolding through the eyes of those in power as well as the ordinary people caught in between. Evocatively written and deeply researched, this is the engrossing history of the making of two nations, their pursuit of global power – and the shared past that binds them together into the present.

© Jan Rüger 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026