Customer Reviews

Bismarck: The Man and Statesman

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A.J.P. Taylor adheres to his typically excellent style and delivers this keen critical biography of the man who made modern Europe. If you expect fawning portraits, or gossip-laden scandal, stay clear of Taylor--but at the same time do not fear dry recitation of dates and events. Taylor is a master of his subject matter and knows precisely which details advance his critical wit. No distractions, no tangents, no sermons--Bismarck's political career is the focus, and the ultimate aim is to assess his aims, identify both his failures and successes, and to explain their shape as works springing from the flawed mind of a political genius. As usual with Taylor, little is slack is given to either Bismarck or his adversaries, and each parties' motives are cynically weighed and found contradictory, petty or blind. And, also per usual, Taylor is quick to reveal the absurd quirks of the political elite, and how they impinged on the course of events. Taylor provides an excellent, London-Underground-styled map to the roiling tangle of scheme and intrigue characteristic of nineteenth-century European diplomacy, charts Bismarck's course through it, and deftly shows how its fundamental structure was reformulated by him. Taylor has sometimes been accused of being anti-German, and, in rare moments, he seems to imply the existence of deep flaws in the "national character" of Germany throughout history. But here I was surprised to find Taylor asserting the presence of an instinctive commitment to peace, stability and tranquility in Germany's greatest statesman. This book is essential to an understanding of Germany, Europe and both World Wars. As well as, of course, Otto Von Bismarck.

Arrogant, confrontational, self-absorbed: one would be hard pressed to determine if these characteristics should be found in A. J. P. Taylor's Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman or if they should be in his autobiography. Moreover, it is curious that many other distinguishing characteristics of Taylor's Bismarck are in many ways reflections of Taylor himself. This parallel could even be extended one step further to claim that Taylor's assessment of Bismarck might be similar to the present assessment of Taylor; that is, both must be praised for their remarkable achievements but praised in such a way that they would be opposed to it.
Taylor, England's most flamboyant historian,# often broke the traditional bounds of the field. He brought history to television, radio and the newspapers. He closed the gap of the historical wait period by writing a history of the origins of War World II in 1961. His flashiness aside, he produced many historical masterpieces including Bismarck. In this work he goes beyond the face value of Bismarck's recorded statements and examines the actions, and subsequently his motives, to find the true character of this monumental figure. He develops the notion of a opportunistic and self-centered Bismarck as opposed to loyal servant of the king whose great foresight brought the unity of Germany.
One major theme of the book is chance. It is argued that it was stoke of luck that allowed Bismarck even enter the field of politics, the bad health of another deputy. Even his great foreign policy was based on providence. Repeatedly Taylor asserts that Bismarck had no plan, rather he would let events unfold and then act from there. Furthermore, when Bismarck intentionally carried a line of policy through it would normally backfire causing him more harm. Taylor remarks, the genius of Bismarck lie not in brilliant initiatives but in being able to recover from past blunders.
Closely related to the theme of chance is the notion that Bismarck had no enduring principles. His own greatness was the only value that he held to as he morphed from reactionary to liberal to conservative. He proudly boasted to the Reichstag "I have no fixed opinions... there are no eternal truths" (138). Beside his own will, the only other exception of complete devotion was his family. However, this might even be challenged. One the boldest claims of the book is that some of Bismarck's landmark achievements, unification and social reform, came as by-products for his bid to stay in power. Explicitly, his main motive for introducing bills was to split the Emperor and Reichstag and thus increase his power; and similarly his main motive for foreign policy was to split the Great Powers to increase Germany and subsequently his power.
In many respects it is a difficult task writing the biography of a man who is a deceptive diplomat. Bismarck's documents and speeches are overflowing with contradictions. It seems that Bismarck's policies stemmed from the hope of a desired outcome instead of personal convictions. Nonetheless, the historian has the difficult task of sifting through the political jargon to find the true motives of this complicated person. Taylor largely discredits Bismarck's talk of humble servitude towards the monarch and instead supports the Bismarck's claim of his own greatness. However, how can one claim certitude with a man who has changed his memoirs repeatedly, had no scruples in contradicting facts, and supported so many opposing principles? This is a contributing fact to the case that this debate will go on. As it does, Taylor's work will do much to help guide those who seek the motives and beliefs or the real Bismarck.

Taylor's thesis is not meant to be an all inclusive telling of Bismarck's life from beginning to end; rather it highlights the most important events which made him famous, often notorious. As with The Second World War, Taylor takes a controversial stance in presenting his topic in order to disclaim the common misperceptions of Bismarck as a warmonger and tyrant bent on German dominance. By using reliable first-hand sources, Taylor shows how Bismarck often opted to go against popular opinion to assure peace in Europe. While this may sound entirely contradictory to contemporary historical record, Taylor does show how every goal set and made by Bismarck was ultimately to his advantage.

Taylor's Bismarck is a concise look at arguably the most influential statesman in Germany if not the world. No noticeable bias is present in Taylor's portrayal of Bismarck as he shows strength and weakness, success and failure in equal portions. While it is not all inclusive and is written for an audience with a certain level of prior knowledge of 19th Century German history, Bismarck is well composed, easy to follow and educational.

Bismarck may be read by high school students,housewives and educated men and women...A.J.P Taylor wrote to several audiences at once. So I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a well written book and wants learn about the facts of Bismarck's accomplishments. Furthermore "Bismarck" is a great example of what politicians do and say. The Difference between what constituents want to hear and what great politicians actually do. Examples are when British politicians make anti-Euro currency declarations in order to gain votes, while at the same time quietly adopting European integration measures. Conversely Italian politicians agreeing quickly to sound pro-European Integration,while all the while in practice stalling every European integration measure so as not to loose voters. This book is a great introduction into Parliamentary and extra parliamentary manoevuring,the basics on Right,Center,Left and the Grand coalition,or all party initiatives for US readers.

Summing up,Bismarck is a pre-requisite to understand European politics and history as well as great lessons in practical politics.

AJP Taylor is an underrated and somewhat controversial figure who was conservative at a time when everyone was liberal and whose pessimism continues to irk people to this day (see the recent Atlantic Monthly article on him). While he is often denigrated by those who don't want to understand him, he is one of my favorite historians. This brief biography of Bismarck shows him at his best.

Chancellor Bismarck is a fascinating, frustrating and selectively noble character, and any biographer would be hard placed to capture him in a scant two hundred pages. Taylor is probably one of the best men for the job: he not only knows his subject well, he knows 19th century history to an astonishing depth, and places his subject well in context. Taylor makes an excellent case for Bismarck as a man who operated outside of the normal sphere of humanity for the greater purpose of his own glory, which happened to coincide with that of Germany (although he was not immune to patriotism, he was hardly driven by it). What makes Bismarck great is that, in spite of his tendency to innovate only to keep himself in power, his genius for diplomacy and highly competent grasp of domestic affairs made his innovations brilliant and lasting.

One word of warning: Taylor assumes a broad knowledge, not only of German language and history, but of general European history as well. This can often make for rough reading, and I was forced to the encyclopedia several times by a name I did not recognize. This did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, which is otherwise quite well written.

Whereas prior to reading this, I was only vaguely aware of Bismarck's character and place in history, he is now indelible in my mind as one of the greatest historical characters of all time. What higher compliment one can give than that, I do not know.

Four stars, only because I wish it was longer.

The best part about any AJP Taylor book is that he covers history in a way that no text book ever could. He makes his subject, in this case Bismarck, real and human. Many histories and biographies fall short of this goal. Taylor discusses Bismarck's entire life, from childhood until death. However, the bulk of this work is devoted to period from when Bismarck began Prussian government work until he was removed from the Chancellery by William the Second. Also if you like this book and are at all interested in the time period in which Bismarck was in power, I highly recommend Taylor's Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848-1918.

This is a remarkable book of history. I was surprised to find myself reading it from cover to cover. Usually I read a book like this for a while, read a mystery or adventure or science fiction, then read some more, but not this time. While I am not up on my German history and this book expects some knowledge to be had, it was still very interesting. At times you feel that the author is an apologist for Count Von Bismarck, but other times, you can see he is just giving a true to life account, warts and all. Count Bismarck may need someone to apologize for his excesses, because he would not do it, and because he was a very great man, who should be remembered for his greatness.

The politics of the day are a bit hard to understand for me (I just do not understand why certain wars are fought or not: why were the Balkans so important to Austria-Hungary? Was it defensive? Was it land and people power (income from the farms and woodlands, etc.)? Was it social, id est, families and clans fighting for each other?), but to read about the philosophical and personal interplay of Count Von Bismarck and the other heads of state, brings to life some of the challenges the politics of the day. It also brought to light the real start of the German Federation. No one ever taught me that Germany was not a country before because it was like the United States before the constitution was adopted, as opposed to France or England, who had royalty overseeing the whole of the country. It is no wonder it did not have colonies before 1860 or so.

AJP Taylor has written many excellent books on diplomatic history, so it is not a surprise when this book is overview of the life of the formidable Otto von Bismarck is both readable and displays great understanding. Taylor recounts events of Bismarck's early life, which were the source of his later attitudes. Taylor also describes Bismarck's hobbies, likes and dislikes, along with incidents of his later life.

Of course Taylor recounts the professional career of Otto Bismarck. Taylor follows Bismarck's intricate maneuverings in his foreign policy. He explains what Bismarck did and why he did it, and the mistakes Bismarck made. Although Bismarck's methods were not always above board, Taylor makes no moral judgments on Bismarck's actions.

We also follow Bismarck's domestic policy, moving from the Liberals to Conservatives, aggression to security and balancing the emperor and the Reichstat, all to enforce his will at all times.

Taylor shows that while Bismarck was not a nice or friendly man, he should be judged on the value of his accomplishments, and not on how he achieved those accomplishments.

I really love books like this one. Now this book may not be the definitive, authoritative biography of Bismarck and it certainly leaves out some key points, but the book is only 288 pages. The book is not supposed to be the definitive work on Bismarck's life. I don't see how someone could pick up a book that is less than 300 pages and think that it will have everything they need to know about one of the greatest politicians the world has ever seen.

So why do I like this book enough to give it five stars? The book is very well written and Mr. Taylor has a nice style so the book is entertaining and easy to read. It is also filled with very good information and, for its size, the book does a very good job hitting the major highlights of a very important historical figure. I think the book does a fantastic job giving the reader a lot of information for the pages read.

I really like these short, well written books on history. They make reading about a topic that is outside one's course of study or interest accessible. The relative small size of the book means it isn't as intimidating as other works and hopefully gives the book a wider audience.

The main thing is know what you're buying here and you won't be disappointed. You cannot get a definitive biography of Bismarck into 300 pages or less, but you can get a really good book that is informative and fun to read. I really liked this book and I think others will enjoy it as well.

A. J. P. Taylor showed tremendous intelligence in analyzing international and domestic politics in Bismarck's era. He removed thick fog around Bismarck and showed how he changed his course according to situations. Located between Emperor and fragmented Reichstag, Bismarck always remained an indispensible man. He always loved to balance. He never committed himself irrevocably to any course. So he kept his position for 28 years.

Even though this book looks like a biography, I got only meager knowledge about Bismarck's private life from this book. Taylor did not describe in detail how Bismarck married Jahanna. I do not even know Bismarck's daughter's name! Sometimes Taylor tried to analyze Bismarck's psychology. But this is not what readers of biography usually expect.

My conclusion is that this book is very strong in political analysis, but inadequate as a biography. And this book may be a bit difficult to understand for lay readers. If you remember Suez Canal and Oil in Caspian Sea while reading this book, it'll be much easier to understand.