Originally published in 1968, this was the first time that a comprehensive selection of documents on Germany in the Age of Bismarck had been made available to students and other readers in the English language. The documents were chosen to illuminate not only Bismarck’s own personality and policies but also the nature of the problems he faced and the reactions of his contemporaries. The substantial introduction serves as a general background and guide to the documents, which are in the form of letters, essays, polemics, speeches, and memoirs, produced in the period itself. They allow the student to obtain a genuine first-hand insight into the workings of minds and institutions in Germany during three of the most eventful decades of her history.