Bismarck and His Times

A new account of the life and policies of the first German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, this concise historical-biography reflects, for the first time in English, the historical shift in emphasis from the traditional political-economic approach to the more complex social-economic one of post–World War II scholarship.

Since the middle of the 1950s, much new material on Bismarck and nine teenth-century Germany and new inter pretations of existing material have been published in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Pro fessor George O. Kent’s brilliant syn thesis, drawing on this mass of mate rial, examines changes in emphasis in post–World War II scholarship. The book, particularly in the historiograph ical notes and bibliographical essay, provides the serious student with an invaluable guide to the intricacies of recent Bismarckian scholarship. For the general reader, the main text presents a picture of the man, the issues, and the age in the light of modern scholarship.

The major shift in historical emphasis described in this new account is the importance scholars give to the period 1877-79, the years of change from free trade to protectionism, rather than to 1870-71 the founding of the Reich. Bismarck’s political machinations, par ticularly his willingness to explore the possibilities of a coup d'etat, are more fully discussed here than in any other book.