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Metternich cover art

Metternich

By: Wolfram Siemann, Daniel Steuer - translator
Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
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Summary

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

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Great listen

Well read by the narrator of a fascinating man in a fascinating epoch. Good pronunciation of various names and places

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Enlightening

The history of Europe has, for me, just “been there”. This book has expanded my understanding of what came before and how todays future is and will continue to be influenced by it.

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In Defence of Metternich

This is something of a reappraisal of Metternich, who does not come across as the arch-reactionary that we may be familiar with, but rather someone looking for stability in turbulent times. It’s certainly an informative listen for those interested in the period.

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  • 27-07-23

A Hagiography of Metternich

in the first pages, the author claims that they do not view Metternich as a hero. It is a good thing that they state this so clearly, as the rest of book would lead you to believe that the author has a shrine to the Prince in their bedroom.

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