The much admired school system of nineteenth-century Germany served as a model for the educational systems of many other countries, including Britain and the United States. In this illuminating study of German primary schools, Professor Lamberti examines an educational tradition that was the object of wide emulation, but which was often misinterpreted by its admirers.

Professor Lamberti also explores the political significance of German educational policies in the Kulturkampf, in the suppression of Polish nationalism in the eastern provinces, and more generally in the struggle between the competing strands of liberalism and authoritarianism in the German state.