A.J.P. Taylor "Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman" Limited Edition, Leather-Bound Collector's Edition [Sealed]

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Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman is a biography of the German statesman Otto von Bismarck by the English historian A. J. P. Taylor. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Hamish Hamilton in June 1955.

A reevaluation of Bismarck's motives and methods, focusing on the chancellor's rise to power in the 1860's and his removal from office in 1890.

'...Mr. Taylor has performed the difficult task of compressing the most earth-shaking career between Napoleon and Hitler into fewer than 300 pages with conspicuous success.' --(London) Times Literary Supplement

Origins

In a book review written in 1943, Taylor wrote that "to write a life of Bismarck within reasonable compass would be one of the greatest of historical achievements; but perhaps it is impossible. The material is overwhelming; and to make matters worse, Bismarck himself has left, in speeches, conversations or his reminiscences, versions of all the principal events usually deliberately misleading".

Taylor had previously written Germany's First Bid for Colonies 1884-1885: A Move in Bismarck's European Policy and The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848–1918, both of which in different ways covered Bismarck's foreign policy. To learn more about his personal life, Taylor read many biographies of Bismarck and a few monographs in French, German and English. He also read Bismarck's memoirs.

He later wrote that the biography was one of the books he had most enjoyed writing: "I knew all the historical background already. Now I found Bismarck's personality fascinating as well and he became one of the few I should like to recall from the dead. It is a very good exercise for an historian to stray into biography - a field seemingly so similar and yet fundamentally different. Perhaps no historian can really handle individual psychology or make an individual the centre of his book. All the same I think my Bismarck is the best on him ever written".

About the Author

A(lan) J(ohn) P(ercival) Taylor, fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, was born in 1906 in Southport, Lancashire, England. Educated at Oxford and Vienna University, he was from 1930 to 1938 a lecturer in history at Manchester University. While he was at Manchester, Taylor published The Italian Problem in European Diplomacy, 1847–49 and Germany’s First Bid for Colonies, 1884–85. In 1938 he became a fellow of Magdalen College. He was Ford’s Lecturer in English history at Oxford in 1956 and Leslie Stephen Lecturer at Cambridge in 1961, and was a fellow of the British Academy. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809–1918 was published in 1948. He was also the author of The Course of German History; From Napoleon to Stalin; Rumours of War; The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848–1918; Politics in Wartime and Other Essays; and Origins of the Second World War. He was a regular contributor to the New Statesman and the Manchester Guardian. Taylor passed away in 1990.

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Otto von Bismarck

Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg[a] (born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a Prussian statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany. Bismarck's Realpolitik and firm governance resulted in him being popularly known as the Iron Chancellor (German: Eiserne Kanzler).

From Junker landowner origins, Bismarck rose rapidly in Prussian politics under King Wilhelm I of Prussia. He served as the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and in both houses of the Prussian parliament. From 1862 to 1890, he was the minister president and foreign minister of Prussia. Under Bismarck's leadership, Prussia provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. After Austria's defeat in 1866, he replaced the German Confederation with the North German Confederation, which aligned the smaller North German states with Prussia while excluding Austria. In 1870, Bismarck secured France's defeat with support from the independent South German states before overseeing the creation of a unified German Empire under Prussian rule. From 1871 onwards, Bismarck used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany's position in a peaceful Europe. While averse to maritime colonialism, Bismarck ultimately acquiesced to German elite and popular opinion by building an overseas empire.

As the architect of Germany's domestic policies, Bismarck created the first modern welfare state, which also had the effect of undermining his socialist opponents. In the 1870s, he allied himself with the anti-tariff, anti-Catholic Liberals and fought the Catholic Church in the Kulturkampf ("culture struggle"). This failed, as the Catholics responded by forming the powerful German Centre Party and using universal male suffrage to gain a bloc of seats. Bismarck responded by ending the Kulturkampf, breaking with the Liberals, enacting the Prussian deportations and forming an alliance with the Centre Party to fight the socialists. Bismarck was loyal to German Emperor Wilhelm I, who argued with Bismarck but supported him against the advice of Wilhelm's wife and son. While the Imperial Reichstag was elected by universal male suffrage, it did not control government policy. A staunch monarchist, Bismarck inherently distrusted democracy and ruled through a strong, well-trained bureaucracy with power in the hands of the traditional Junker elite. Wilhelm II dismissed Bismarck from office in 1890, and he retired to write his memoirs.

Bismarck is best remembered for his role in German unification. He became a hero to German nationalists, who built monuments honouring him. While praised as a visionary who kept the peace in Europe through adroit diplomacy, he is criticized for persecution of Poles and Catholics and the centralization of executive power, which some describe as Caesarist. He is criticized by opponents of German nationalism, as nationalism became engrained in German culture, galvanizing the country to aggressively pursue nationalistic policies in both World Wars.