The Kaiser's Cruisers, 1871-1918 covers the full range of cruising vessels operated or ordered by the Imperial German Navy between 1871 and 1918, excluding the battlecruisers, previously covered by the author's companion volume The Kaiser's Battlefleet. Arranged in a chronological narrative, these include corvettes, avisos, sloops, torpedo cruisers, III- and IV-class cruisers, and small cruisers. This book includes both design and operational histories, the latter continuing down to the end of ships' service after the fall of Imperial Germany, and it is accompanied by an extensive selection of many rare photographs. The ships' technical details are itemized in the second half of the book which also includes sketches of ships' internal layouts and armor and changes in appearance over time.

Aidan Dodson and Dirk Nottelmann have made extensive use of archival material, particularly relating to the political and technical background to design and procurement and present a developmental history of this ship class which is unique in the English language.