Bismarck
The Man and the Statesman

A.J.P. Taylor is a concise writer, and not without wit. I was so pleased with his The Hapsburg Monarchy: 1809-1918 that I wanted to read more. This Bismarck biography has been in my sights for some time. In it he compresses that Great White Male stateman’s eventful life to less than 300 pages. What......more

As good as it gets. This is a simpler companion to "The Struggle for Mastery in Europe," taking on the latter half of the 19th century from the perspective of the man who drove many of the events. Taylor is a rare historian in that he's absolutely fair; he puts his own feelings aside and asks "was i......more

Bismarck was an absolute legend in realism and person and this book explains his propensities accurately and contextually in masterful fashion. The unifier created Germany, social security, European peace, and surfed the events of history marvelously. He predicted Germany's fall under WWI and the la......more

I’ll begin with my most favourite portion of the book – “The Bismarckians got their way. The republic was overthrown by Hitler in 1933. The shackles of Versailles were broken off: reparations ended, a great German army restored. Then the Bismarckians discovered to their horror that, while they had go......more

Summary Bismarck was born to a simple, earthy, land-owning father and a clever, sophisticated mother. He took after his mother but spent his life masquerading as his father. Later in life, his popular image was gruff and militaristic, while in reality he disliked war and favored ruthless and aggressi......more