Description
This riveting, New York Times bestselling biography illuminates the life of Otto von Bismarck, the statesman who unified Germany but who also embodied everything brutal and ruthless about Prussian culture. Jonathan Steinberg draws heavily on contemporary writings, allowing Bismarck's friends and foes to tell the story. What rises from these pages is a complex giant of a man: a hypochondriac with the constitution of an ox, a brutal tyrant who could easily shed tears, a convert to an extreme form of
evangelical Protestantism who secularized schools and introduced civil divorce. Bismarck may have been in sheer ability the most intelligent man to direct a great state in modern times. His brilliance and insight dazzled his contemporaries. But all agreed there was also something demonic,
diabolical, and overwhelming in Bismarck's personality. He was a kind of malign genius who, behind the various postures, concealed an ice-cold contempt for his fellow human beings and a drive to control and rule them. As one contemporary noted: the Bismarck regime was a constant orgy of scorn and
abuse of mankind, collectively and individually. A brilliant study in power, this comprehensive biography brings Bismarck to life, revealing the stark contrast between the Iron Chancellor's unmatched political skills and his profoundly flawed human character.
Author: Jonathan Steinberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 04/01/2013
Pages: 592
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.70d
ISBN13: 9780199975396
ISBN10: 0199975396
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- History | Europe | Germany
- History | Wars & Conflicts | World War I
evangelical Protestantism who secularized schools and introduced civil divorce. Bismarck may have been in sheer ability the most intelligent man to direct a great state in modern times. His brilliance and insight dazzled his contemporaries. But all agreed there was also something demonic,
diabolical, and overwhelming in Bismarck's personality. He was a kind of malign genius who, behind the various postures, concealed an ice-cold contempt for his fellow human beings and a drive to control and rule them. As one contemporary noted: the Bismarck regime was a constant orgy of scorn and
abuse of mankind, collectively and individually. A brilliant study in power, this comprehensive biography brings Bismarck to life, revealing the stark contrast between the Iron Chancellor's unmatched political skills and his profoundly flawed human character.
Author: Jonathan Steinberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 04/01/2013
Pages: 592
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 1.70d
ISBN13: 9780199975396
ISBN10: 0199975396
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Historical
- History | Europe | Germany
- History | Wars & Conflicts | World War I
About the Author
Jonathan Steinberg is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Modern European History at the University of Pennsylvania, and Emeritus Fellow, Trinity Hall, Cambridge. His books include Yesterday's Deterrent: Tirpitz and the Birth of the German Battle Fleet and All or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust
1941 - 1943.