Synopses & Reviews
Gustav Stresemann was the exceptional political figure of his time. His early death in 1929 has long been viewed as the beginning of the end for the Weimar Republic and the opening through which Hitler was able to come to power. His career was marked by many contradictions but also a pervading loyalty to the values of liberalism and nationalism. This enabled him in time both to adjust to defeat and revolution and to recognize in the Republic the only basis on which Germans could unite, and in European cooperation the only way to avoid a new war. His attempt to build a stable Germany as an equal power in a stable Europe throws an important light on German history in a critical time. Hitler was the beneficiary of his failure but, so long as he was alive, Stresemann offered Germans a clear alternative to the Nazis. Jonathan Wright's fascinating new study is the first modern biography of Stresemann to appear in English or German.
Review
"Jonathan Wright ... has performed the valuable service of adding an authoritive keystone to the arch of German political life between 1918 and 1933. The book is clearly written and well organized.... it is highly recommended to fill out the education of German specialists on the Germany of the 1920s."--
History"lucidly and crisply written... indispensable for understanding interwar diplomacy"--The Atlantic Monthly
Review
"This meticulously researched, judicious, and carefully written book clearly confirms Wright's confidence in the usefulness of the biographical approach. He has produced a balanced and reasonable treatment of one of Germany's most significant statesman. This study will interest not only scholars of German history, but also a much broader audience intrigued by the career of one of Europe's most influential modern statesman in an era defined by war, revolution, and the troubled search for lasting European stability." -- German Studies Review
About the Author
Jonathan Wright is a Tutorial Fellow and Lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford.