Bismarck

Routledge Historical Biographies provide engaging, readable and academically credible biographies written from an explicitly historical perspective. These concise and accessible accounts will bring important historical figures to life for students and general readers alike.

Bismarck was arguably the most important figure in nineteenth-century European history after 1815. In this new biography, Edgar Feuchtwanger reassesses Bismarck's significance as a historical figure. He traces his development from a typical junker, a reactionary and conservative, into the so-called white revolutionary who recast European affairs more drastically than anyone since Napoleon.

Feuchtwanger's lucid account de-mythologizes the German leader without demonising him. This book leaves the reader with a strongly etched portrait of one of the decisive makers of the modern world.

Arguably one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century European history, Otto von Bismarck is well known for being the architect of the German Empire and for his fiery speechs. In addition, this dynamic statesman is also credited with developing for Germany a common currency and central bank, a single code of commercial and civil law and introducing the world's first modern welfare scheme to provide benefits to the sick, accident victims and the elderly.

This new biography, brings Bismarck alive as a person, as well as analyzing his significance as a historical figure. It traces his development from a typical junker, a reactionary and conservative, into the so-called white revolutionary who recast European affairs more drastically than anyone since Napoleon. A political genius, Bismarck had a wonderful command of language, which might have made him a literary figure of distinction. But most of the time the more poetic side of his personality was overshadowed by his brutal will to power, modified only by his legendary ability to calculate political risks and make alliances. This book will leave the reader with a strongly etched portrait of one of the significant characters of the modern age.

Edgar Feuchtwanger studied history at Cambridge and taught British and German history at the University of Southampton and has been visiting professor at the University of Frankfurt. His major publications include From Weimar to Hitler (1995) Disraeli (2000), Imperial Germany 1850-1918 (Routledge 2001).