I would like to thank the people of Magdeburg and Bernburg, Germany. In researching this book, I found out a great deal of my own Prussian past, and was able to visit the last known address of my Grandfather, a German Army officer who had survived trench warfare in World War I before emigrating to America. Also thanks to the cities of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, for providing excellent food and beer and a great setting for this book. I hope I didn’t completely destroy the serenity of the Austrian Alps, one of my favorite places on Earth. A special thanks to the Teutonic Order. I meant no disrespect to this fine Order.