Bismarck's favourite Englishman

The Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, leading the rising German Empire based on Prussian militarism and discipline, and Lord Odo Russell, Liberal Ambassador of Great Britain when the British Empire was at its most powerful, serene and confident, were politically and socially worlds apart. The astonishing friendship of Bismarck and Russell endured intense national rivalry which would change the face of Europe and the world and end in world war. The result is a moving personal story and one which illuminates European diplomacy at the highest levels. This book vividly illustrates all the major themes of the complex the Franco-Prussian war, Turkey as the ""Sick Man of Europe"" and the Eastern Question, relations with France, Russia and other European powers, the beginnings of imperial rivalry, the clash of ideologies between liberal Anglo-Saxon beliefs and the militarism of the new Germany. In addition, a glittering picture is painted of the German Imperial court and of British political society at its highest.