Throughout his long and productive life, Theodor Fontane (1819 – 1898), embraced many literary disciplines. He is probably best known today for his novel Effi Briest, but he was also a newspaper editor, travel writer, and noted chronicler of the German wars of unification, the Schleswig - Holstein War 1864, the Austro - Prussian War 1866, and finally the Franco - Prussian War, 1870 - 1871. Fontane’s background as a journalist and novelist is evident in The German War of 1866, the amount of detail is unsurpassed while the narrative has a pace and color rarely if ever found in historical works of this kind.