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Bismarck's War
- Author
- Rachel Chrastil
- Narrator
- Sarah Borges
- Publisher
- Hachette Audio
- Publish Date
- 5 September 2023
- Run Time
- 17 hours 37 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
A modern account of the war that toppled the French Empire, unified Germany, and set Europe on the path to World War I.
“A vivid and informative story of these events and their consequences … Chrastil’s compassionate and thought-provoking history does justice to both sides of this legacy.” —Daily Telegraph
Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century.
In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full, while also showing in intimate detail how the war reshaped and blurred the boundaries between civilian and soldier as the fighting swept across France. The result is the definitive history of a transformative conflict that changed Europe, and the history of warfare, forever.
Critics Review
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“Rachel Chrastil colorfully describes how the Franco-Prussian War destroyed the long European peace established after Napoleon's defeat in 1815. Beginning as a midsummer cabinet war between monarchs, one of them Napoleon's nephew, Bismarck's invasion of France bogged down in winter rain and snow, and became a rancorous war of peoples that kindled the inferno of World War I.”
—Geoffrey Wawro, author of The Franco-Prussian War and A Mad Catastrophe
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Details
- Author
- Rachel Chrastil
- Narrator
- Sarah Borges
- Duration
- 17 hours 37 minutes
- Release Date
- 5 September 2023
- ISBN
- 9781668632796
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Hachette Audio
- Genre
- European history, Military history, Military and defence strategy, Military history, European history, General and world history
Synopsis
A modern account of the war that toppled the French Empire, unified Germany, and set Europe on the path to World War I.“A vivid and informative story of these events and their consequences … Chrastil’s compassionate and thought-provoking history does justice to both sides of this legacy.” —Daily Telegraph Among the conflicts that convulsed Europe during the nineteenth century, none was more startling and consequential than the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. Deliberately engineered by Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the war succeeded in shattering French supremacy, deposing Napoleon III, and uniting a new German Empire. But it also produced brutal military innovations and a precarious new imbalance of power that together set the stage for the devastating world wars of the next century. In Bismarck’s War, historian Rachel Chrastil chronicles events on the battlefield in full, while also showing in intimate detail how the war reshaped and blurred the boundaries between civilian and soldier as the fighting swept across France. The result is the definitive history of a transformative conflict that changed Europe, and the history of warfare, forever.
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