Bismarck (Life&Times)

"Otto von Bismarck (1815-98) has gone down in history as the 'Iron Chancellor', a reactionary and a militarist whose unification of Germany in 1871 set Europe on the road to the disaster of the First World War. Yet as this balanced and comprehensive study shows, the real Bismarck was a much more complicated figure than this traditional stereotype suggests. The 'Founder of the Reich' had been 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 to protect the Reich he had created; and the reactionary enemy of socialism introduced comprehensive health and unemployment insurance for German workers."--Jacket.