Gustav Stresemann

`Review from previous edition In this major new book, based on wide reading in Stresemann's private papers, German, British and French archives, and the voluminous diplomatic record of the times, the Oxford historian Jonathan Wright mounts a subtle, nuanced and on the whole convincing defence against [such] criticism [of Stresemann].' Times Literary Supplement `Writing with sound judgement and senstive interpretation, the author has created an impressive monument to Stresemann ... The abundant detail is balanced by a brilliant 30-page conclusion, pertinently summarising all aspects of Stresemann's influence' Allgemeine Zeitung `the first comprehensive biography in English of one of Germany's three greatest diplomats ... an admirably old-fashioned, academic biography: lucidly and crisply written, it deftly bridges domestic politics and diplomacy. [Wright's] judicious work is indispensable for understanding both interwar diplomacy-one of the most important and complex subjects of modern history-and the German problem, a conundrum perhaps still with us.' The Atlantic Monthly `sympathetic and authoritative biographer ... Wright provides a full and persuasive account of Stresemann's professionsal progression' THES `Lucid and authoritative.' The Spectator `exceptional ... elegantly-written book that persuasively makes the case for Stresemann's indispensibility to the poor old Weimar Republic.' Sunday Telegraph `[Wright] has produced a thorough, well researched study of the man he sees as "Weimar's Greatest Statesman" ... Wright's interest is in Stresemann as the political leader and the foreign minister, and the book is tightly and clearly focused on this interest. Maps, photographs and a glossary enhance the work ... Scholars will find it the most thorough, up-to-date political study of Stresemann available in English.' H-German `A serious biography of another chancellor that offers a good basis for a compare-and-contrast study of modern and Weimar Germany.' Wall Street Journal `Meticulously researched and authoritative biography.' Literary Review `If Gustav Stresemann, an enigmatic and controversial figure, had not died prematurely in 1929, Germany might just have avoided a Hitler dictatorship. Jonathan Wright's magisterial and authoritative study is to be warmly welcomed as an unrivalled biography of the most important European statesman of the 1920s.' Sir Ian Kershaw `well-researched ... detailed and very useful new biography, the best yet written' The New York Review