Bismarck: A Life

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Overview


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, overwhelming, beyond human attributes, 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."

In this comprehensive and expansive biography--a brilliant study in power--Jonathan Steinberg brings Bismarck to life, revealing the stark contrast between the "Iron Chancellor's" unmatched political skills and his profoundly flawed human character.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
For over two decades the study of Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) has been structured by the seminal multivolume works of Lothar Gall and Otto Pflanze. Steinberg (Yesterday's Deterrent), a professor of modern European history at the University of Pennsylvania, brings a fresh perspective to the subject in a single volume whose insights and presentation make it no less canonical than its predecessors. Steinberg's Bismarck is a man whose power came not from the external "forces and factors," as stated by Gall and Pflanze, but from "the sovereignty of an extraordinary, gigantic self." He embodied Hegel's concept of a world-historical figure: shaping events and people by the potency of his intellect, the force of his character, and the strength of his will. Yet Steinberg demonstrates that Bismarck's rise and survival depended on his relationship to King William I. Serving as prime minister at the pleasure of William I, Devoid of any principle beyond the exercise of power, defining politics as struggle in domestic and international contexts, he singlehandedly "brought about a complete transformation in the European international order." As Steinberg relates, he fostered enmity in order to resolve conflict. The results were a restless Reich, an antagonistic Europe, and eventually a world war. B&w photos. (Apr.)
Library Journal
Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) unified the separate German states; his actions as Germany's Iron Chancellor had an immeasurable impact on the world and made him one of the most important figures of the 19th century. Steinberg (modern European history., Univ. of Pennsylvania; All or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust 1941–43) delves into Bismarck's life as both an individual and a statesman, drawing on observations from his friends, colleagues, and enemies to advance the idea that much of Bismarck's power came from his magnetic, larger-than-life personality. Though Steinberg's examination often leans toward the darker sides of his subject, the overall result is a complex and understandably contradictory picture: a physical giant whose ill health and hypochondria were legendary; a ruthless manipulator capable of great warmth and emotion; and, at heart, a man whose need for power was so consuming that it poisoned both his personal and his political life. VERDICT The combination of in-depth biography, political analysis, and psychological study might make this volume too weighty for casual readers, but those with a serious interest in the subject will find it an intriguing one-volume addition to existing long works on Bismarck.—Kathleen McCallister, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
Henry A. Kissinger
…Bismarck: A Life is the best study of its subject in the English language.
—The New York Times

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780199782529
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Publication date: 4/6/2011
  • Pages: 592
  • Sales rank: 67,244
  • Product dimensions: 6.50 (w) x 9.40 (h) x 1.80 (d)

Meet 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.

Table of Contents

Introduction Bismarck: Sovereign Self Chapter 2 Bismarck: born Prussian and what that meant Chapter 3 Bismarck: the 'Mad Junker"
Chapter 4 Bismarck Represents Himself, 1847 to 1851
Chapter 5 Bismarck as Diplomat 1851-1862
Chapter 6 Power Chapter 7 "I have beaten them all! All!"
Chapter 8 The Unification of Germany 1866 to 1870
Chapter 9 The Decline Begins: Liberals and Catholics Chapter 10 "The Guest House of the Dead Jew"
Chapter 11 Three Kaisers and Bismarck's Fall from Power Conclusions Bismarck and His Legacy Bibliography

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3
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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 27 Customer Reviews

  • Posted May 23, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Ruthless Giant Dominating Lilliputians with Blood and Iron

    Jonathan Steinberg explores, with strong opinions, the life and career of Otto von Bismarck from three angles: Bismarck, the man; Bismarck, the genius-statesman; and Bismarck the Iron Chancellor as an icon. Steinberg clearly demonstrates that Bismarck was a pragmatic, ruthless giant, operating in a world populated with Lilliputians. As Prime Minister of Prussia, Bismarck single handily capitalized on the benevolent, weak personality of King and then Emperor, Wilhelm I, to create Modern Germany at the expense of the Kingdom of Denmark, the House of Habsburg, Imperial France, and the German states between 1863 and 1870. Bismarck would not have succeeded in his belligerent policies without the support of brilliant military men such as Albrecht von Roon and Helmuth von Moltke, to whom Wilhelm I gave the command of his armies. As the Iron Chancellor, Bismarck dominated the German Second Reich until his removal from power in 1890 by Wilhelm II with the same ruthlessness, thanks to what Steinberg describes as the uncanny, diabolical personal power that he had over men and affairs. By 1890, Bismarck was already a living legend who embodied the greatness of Germany. Steinberg is definitely at his most controversial when he explores the personality of Bismarck, the man. Bismarck comes out as a violent, intemperate, hypochondriac, and misogynist man who most feared, with very good reasons, to ever cross in their lifetime. Unfortunately, for his creation and the world, Bismarck bequeathed Germany with an unstable web of institutions that he was the only one to temporarily master. The outcome of this instability was two successive world wars at the hands of German leaders, who did not know their limits unlike Bismarck. A humbled Germany rose from its ashes, like the Phoenix under the responsible leadership of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and his successors in the aftermath of WWII.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 22, 2012

    Bismarck

    Very good biography, paints a picture of a key time in modern European history.

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  • Posted July 12, 2011

    To much detail

    To much detail and to many names. Unless you already know a lot about Bismark it is hard to follow.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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