Life of Prince Metternich

📖 The Scoop

Originally published in 1888, this is a short biography of the life of Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (15 May 1773 - 11 June 1859), a politician and statesman of Rhenish extraction and one of the most important diplomats of his era, serving as the Austrian Empire’s first Foreign Minister from 1809 and then Chancellor from 1821. He was a great diplomat: crafty, manipulative, and single-minded in his determination to overthrow Napoleon and his revolutionary ideals and to re-establish the European monarchical system.

Here, British Colonel G. B. Malleson describes how the charming, aristocratic Metternich devoted countless hours to winning Napoleon’s trust and to buying time for his country, until a re-armed Austria, at the head of the Sixth Coalition, was able to defeat the still-formidable Corsican. From 1815 until his downfall amid the revolutions of 1848, notes Malleson, Metternich devoted “all his power, all his influence, all his untiring energy, to the forging of new fetters for the human race.”

This compact but succinct title makes an important addition to your history collection.

Genre: History / Military / Napoleonic Wars (fancy, right?)