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Metternich

Strategist and Visionary

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Metternich

Written by: Wolfram Siemann, Daniel Steuer - translator
Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
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Metternich has a reputation as the epitome of reactionary conservatism. Historians treat him as the archenemy of progress, a ruthless aristocrat who used his power as the dominant European statesman of the first half of the nineteenth century to stifle liberalism, suppress national independence, and oppose the dreams of social change that inspired the revolutionaries of 1848. Wolfram Siemann paints a fundamentally new image of the man who shaped Europe for over four decades. He reveals Metternich as more modern and his career much more forward-looking than we have ever recognized.

Clemens von Metternich emerged from the horrors of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, Siemann shows, committed above all to the preservation of peace. That often required him, as the Austrian Empire's foreign minister and chancellor, to back authority. He was, as Henry Kissinger has observed, the father of realpolitik. But short of compromising on his overarching goal Metternich aimed to accommodate liberalism and nationalism as much as possible. Siemann draws on previously unexamined archives to bring this multilayered and dazzling man to life.

©2019 the President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2022 Tantor 18th Century Europe Historical Modern Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government World
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such a tedious and boring book i've never heard a biography so horribly written.

bad bad bad!!

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This is an exceptional work of scholarship which presents in necessary detail the character, psychological motivations, personality and impact of a great man on an important era of transition in world history, from empires to nation states. It might be difficult to follow for those not acquainted with the broad outlines of the era, but some 'research' into important events while listening, with reference to the ebook now and then, greatly enriches the experience.

Highly recommended for those who have an interest in international relations and diplomatic history.

Exceptional and necessarily detailed work

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