Book excerpt: This companion is a significant addition to the body of scholarship on Germany’s imperial era with the emphasis very much on the present and future. Questions of continuity remain a vital line of historical enquiry and while it may have been short-lived, the Kaiserreich remains central to modern German and European history. The collection will provide a lively take on this fascinating period of history, from Germany’s unification in 1871 until the end of World War I.