Bismarck's War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe

“The best modern account” (Wall Street Journal) of the war that toppled the French Empire, unified Germany, and set Europe on the path to World War I

Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also p...