For some time, historians have avoided the subject of Germany's royal dynasties, except for studies about the erratic Kaiser Wilhelm II. In his three latest books, Lothar Machtan has helped make up for this lacuna. In Der Kaisersohn bei Hitler (2006), he examined the relationship of the last heir to the throne to Adolf Hitler. In Die Abdankung (2008), he analyzed the 1918 demise of the royal houses. In this book, Machtan fully details the life of the last chancellor appointed by Wilhelm II. This thoroughly researched biography exploits many new sources, especially letters from private archives, though the family denied Machtan access to Prince Max's Nachlass.

Prince Max, often seen as a weak chancellor faced with an untenable situation, is also presented by Machtan as a person whose ambitions far exceeded his capabilities. The author has searched for the keys to Max's ostensible successes that led to his being considered for the position of chancellor. To that end, Machtan focuses on Max's unwavering ambition and personality flaws, especially his ability to fool others—as well as himself. This biography is something of a psychodrama, as Machtan notes the consequences of Max's upbringing (doting mother, distant father), failed engagements, arranged marriage, and problematic advisers. Important information is presented about Max's homosexuality and an attempted “cure” by the Swedish psychiatrist Axel Munthe, about Cosima Wagner's influence, and about the fact that he was rarely evaluated because of his unquestioned social position—a point illustrated particularly well by the fine analysis of Max's muddled military career, in which he attained posts that he could not handle, yet pretended to have done well and was then never really called to task for shortcomings. In addition, Machtan demonstrates the way Max and his advisers, especially Kurt Hahn and a score of so-called liberal imperialists, schemed and manipulated to present him as a savior-in-waiting, even though he had little experience and less fortitude apart from a knack for self-advancement.

As in the earlier books, Machtan succeeds at showing why the monarchies and monarchists deserved to be relegated to the dustbin of history. They were out of touch with the populace and with the realities of the political and social messes they had created. In doing so, Machtan also offers scathing perspectives on crucial decision makers such as Friedrich Ebert, Weimar Germany's first president, who was stylized by uncritical authors into a “statesman,” but who, according to the author, was more of a political dilettante similar to Prince Max. The actual circumstances of the early November 1918 “alliance” between Max and Ebert—said to involve a plan to save some form of monarchy and stifle revolution—remain vague; their relationship is crucial, however, to understanding what preoccupied Germany's leaders at this pivotal political, military, and social moment. Machtan systematically explores a variety of historical alternatives, including limited constitutional monarchy and a regency, through an analysis of secret meetings, as well as hints in letters and diaries.

The study is organized chronologically in four parts: 1867–1897, 1898–1913, 1914–1918, and 1919–1929, with the bulk of the study concentrated appropriately on 1917–1918, when Max's ambitions merged with the interests of others. The lack of a real program and the illusions of the man and his advisers (especially regarding their own imperial ambitions and lack of popular support), along with their inability to comprehend Germany's wartime situation, underlie the ironic title of Chapter 8: “Tatsächlich Kanzler: Geschichte einer politischen Fehlgeburt.” The miscarriage was long in coming and its aftermath difficult: the prince spent a decade seeking to excuse his failures, underscoring what reputation and legacy meant to such inept characters. Indeed, the strength of this biography resides not merely in the light sarcasm and superb style, but also in Machtan's demonstration of how understanding failure leads to a better comprehension of Germany's wartime and revolutionary situation. Those complicit in the Kaiserreich's demise receive a fair reckoning in this solid, sensible, and readable historical narrative—qualities not always on display in historical studies that are frequently too historiographic, or in biographies that are overly hagiographic.