Description
Book SynopsisHistorians have dismissed the pageantry of the Vienna Congress as window dressing when compared with the serious maneuverings of sovereigns and statesmen. By seeing these two dimensions as interconnected, Brian Vick reveals how one of the most important diplomatic summits in history managed to redraw the map of Europe and the international system.
Trade ReviewThe public culture of diplomacy is the central focus of this valuable work on the Congress of Vienna… This is a thoughtful and significant study that will be of wide-ranging importance for our understanding of early 19th-century Europe. -- Jeremy Black * Times Higher Education *
Vick sets out to explore the congress as a public event and to trace its path to consensus. He shows that it involved more than cynical negotiations behind closed doors. -- William Anthony Hay * Wall Street Journal *
Vick’s serious, thoroughly researched reappraisal…acts as a healthy corrective to emotion-driven detractors of the Congress. -- Aram Bakshian, Jr. * Washington Times *
An impressive book that will challenge traditional accounts of the Congress of Vienna. Vick’s approach is original, his writing is lucid and elegant, and his arguments are cogent and persuasive. By focusing on the political culture of the Congress—from public festivals to the role of women—he has reinvigorated the study of one of the great milestones of European diplomatic history. -- Tim Blanning, University of Cambridge
A new and intriguing interpretation of one of the major events of nineteenth-century Europe. Vick expands and transforms our view of the Congress of Vienna and, more broadly, of the history of European diplomacy. Written with both clarity and grace, this book will be read by all historians of modern Europe. -- Jonathan Sperber, University of Missouri
