Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck (1815-98) has gone down in history as the Iron Chancellor, a reactionary and militarist whose 1871 unification of Germany set Europe down the path of disaster to World War I. But as Volker Ullrich shows in this new edition of his accessible biography, the real Bismarck was far more complicated than the stereotype. A leading historian of nineteenth- and twentieth-century history, Ullrich demonstrates that the "Founder of the Reich" was in fact an opponent of liberal German nationalism. After the wars of 1866 and 1870, Bismarck spent the rest of his career working to preserve peace in Europe and protect the empire he had created. Despite his reputation as an enemy of socialism, he introduced comprehensive health and unemployment insurance for German workers. Far from being a "man of iron and blood," Bismarck was in fact a complex statesman who was concerned with maintaining stability and harmony far beyond Germany's newly unified borders. Comprehensive and balanced, Bismarck shows us the post-reunification value of looking anew at this monumental figure's role in European history

"A brilliant, insightful and elegantly written biography of the most influential German of the nineteenth century."--Roger Moorhouse, author of Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II, "A very good summary life of Bismarck."--Oliver Kamm, author of Mending the Mind, "Ullrich's eminently readable biography of Otto von Bismarck is just delightful. Packed with quotes and fascinating anecdotes, it paints a vivid and balanced picture of the Iron Chancellor, bringing this complex historical figure to life. Ullrich's concise analysis loses none of its edge in the refreshing brevity. His book is a brilliant introduction into the life and times of Germany's first chancellor."--Katja Hoyer, author of Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871-1918

Volker Ullrich has been the head of the political section of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. In 1992 he was awarded the Alfred Kerr Prize for literary criticism. Ullrich is the author of several major historical works, including a monumental biography of Hitler the first volume of which was published in German in 2013.