This is the story of "Germany's greatest son"(according to Kaiser Wilhelm II) and how he was able to unite the various German kingdoms under Prussian leadership and his near-flawless performance in establishing Germany as the greatest power in continental Europe. Steinberg generously uses diaries and memoirs from both the Iron Chancellor and his contemporaries to paint a picture of Bismarck that shows all the flaws and virtues of the great statesman. At some points the reading can get bogged down, but overall it is a great book. This is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand both the 19th century and why the beginning of the 20th century was so bloody. It can be argued that Bismarck's 'demonic' genius set up a system of government that his successors could never sustain. I was very disappointed in this book.Biographies generally need two additives, a good subject and a good narrative. Otto von Bismarck is a fantastic subject and led an extremely interesting life - he was essentially the Hitler of the 1800s.I found the problem here though was the writer has taken an interesting subject and added dull narrative. I found it extremely difficult to 'get into' this book and it just seemed to ramble on and on. I found it resembled a textbook more than a non-fiction book designed for pleasurable reading. If you are interested in Bismarck's correspondence and motivations there's plenty of copies reproduced in this book and some analysis of circumstances but overall it makes the life of an extremely interesting man during an extremely interesting period of time utterly boring.
A brilliant biography of one of the biggest shits of the 19th century.
—Mmmbogo
Fascinating biography of an irascible and fascinating man.
—favoritegirl1256
MY PROFESSOR WROTE THIS BOOK HEHEHEHEHEHEHE
—alla
