Conrad Black

Metternich gets a makeover

In Wolfram Siemann’s biography, the great suppressor of democracy is mysteriously transformed into a liberal, reformer and chief victor over Napoleon

issue 22 February 2020

This is a giant Teutonic forest of a book, to be progressed through with determination as if by seasoned infantry; it is as far as biography can get from a Viennese waltz. But it has its rewards. It is a very extensive and well-researched chronicle of the subject’s monumental career — 39 years as foreign minister of the Austrian Empire, the last 27 of them also as the state chancellor, and an extensive diplomatic career prior to all that.

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