Customer Reviews

The World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22

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Excellent book that is hard to find and one that should never go out of print. This book first came out in the early 1960's and sadly was not reprinted until the early part of the 21st century and it is now out of print once again. The world of Metternich and Castlereagh was one of finding peace, keeping your country strong while keeping the young aristocrats and military professionals from starting wars. Bismark ran into much the same problems when he was Chancellor of Prussia. The key to Metternich, Castlereagh and Bismark was diplomacy based on strength and cunning. When those that came after them saw diplomacy as weakness and opted for war, then eventually their empires came to an end. We saw the same problems in the Bush 43 administration; hence two wars that contiune to drain the economy and deplete the nation of young men and women who go off to war and die or are injured, not to mention the strained relations around the world. The outcome is a weakening of the nation state and eventual ruin. The empires of Britian, Austria and Prussia all ceased to exist when they threw diplomacy to the wind. Can the US escape the same circumstances by rebuilding diplomacy while maintining our military strength but not using it to go to war? Much like Sun Tzu's 'Art of War,' Kissinger's 'The World Restored' should be read by politicans, military professionals, business folks and the general populace at large. Democracy is based on conversation and no better way to have a conversation about history and diplomacy then by reading and discussing 'The World Restored.' Kissingers later book on Diplomacy pales in comparison to what is discussed in 'The World Restored.'

This book was intended to be the first volume in a series that went up to WWI, but for obvious reasons Dr. Kissinger never finished the series. Many people have read this book and asserted that Metternich and Co. offered Kissinger his diplomatic roots, when in fact this is wrong. Do not read this book to understand Kissinger, read it to understand an often misunderstood era in history. Kissinger understood it better than anyone.

The book was in excellent shape. One of the best cost/benefit relations in my life!