{"product_id":"bismarck-a-life-9780199975396","title":"Bismarck: A Life","description":"This riveting, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling biography illuminates the life of Otto von Bismarck, the statesman who unified Germany but who also embodied everything brutal and ruthless about Prussian culture. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJonathan Steinberg draws heavily on contemporary writings, allowing Bismarck's friends and foes to tell the story. What rises from these pages is a complex giant of a man: a hypochondriac with the constitution of an ox, a brutal tyrant who could easily shed tears, a convert to an extreme form of evangelical Protestantism who secularized schools and introduced civil divorce. Bismarck may have been in sheer ability the most intelligent man to direct a great state in modern times. His brilliance and insight dazzled his contemporaries. But all agreed there was also something demonic, diabolical, and overwhelming in Bismarck's personality. He was a kind of malign genius who, behind the various postures, concealed an ice-cold contempt for his fellow human beings and a drive to control and rule them. As one contemporary noted: \"the Bismarck regime was a constant orgy of scorn and abuse of mankind, collectively and individually.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA brilliant study in power, this comprehensive biography brings Bismarck to life, revealing the stark contrast between the \"Iron Chancellor's\" unmatched political skills and his profoundly flawed human character.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJonathan Steinberg\u003c\/strong\u003e is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Modern European History at the University of Pennsylvania, and Emeritus Fellow, Trinity Hall, Cambridge. His books include \u003cem\u003eYesterday's Deterrent: Tirpitz and the Birth of the German Battle Fleet\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAll or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust 1941 - 1943\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50630306365714,"sku":"9780199975396","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_cb97abf0-1eff-4672-9876-11fe29ff2e8d.jpg?v=1732749244","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/bismarck-a-life-9780199975396","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}