For the lucky thirteenth annotation from the upcoming Heir to the Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition, Timothy Zahn decides to make things grander than normal.
‘”I wanted HEIR’s villain to be a military leader, as opposed to a governor, Moff, or Sith. But a normal admiral seemed too commonplace. Hence, the Grand Admirals. I first ran across the title, by the way, in connection with the German navy in William L. Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.”
The novel is due out September 6th. While the slipcover is the new silver cover, the actual bound cover will be a reprint of the classic Heir to the Empire cover artwork.
That reason is kinda silly – it sounds like theKJA’s ultraspice or Ultimate KH.
Except Grand Admirals have a basis in reality.
The title was, however, no invention of the Third Reich, but of the German Imperial Navy and instituted by Emperor William II in 1901.
Not everything German is tied to the Nazis, Mr. Zahn…
He didn’t say the Nazis invented it, he said he first ran across it reading Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Which seems like a reasonable place to first see the term as the first person with the rank “Grand Admiral” most Americans are ever likely to hear of is Donitz.