Gold and Iron

Bismark, Bleichroder, and the Building of the German Empire

Look inside
Winner of the Lionel Trilling Award
Nominated for the National Book Award


"An invaluable contribution to our understanding of Germany in the second half of the 19th century" (The Washington Post), Gold and Iron portrays for the first time the close ties between Bismarck and his Jewish banker, Gerson Bleichroder, and the social and political milieu of nineteenth-century Germany.

Contents

Part One: The Hazardous Rise, 1859-1871
1. First Encounter: Junker and Jew
2. Bismarck's Struggle for Survival
3. Between the Throne and the Gallows
4. A Banker's share in Bismarck's Triumph
5. Bismarck's Purse and Bleichroder's Place
6. The Third War
7. Hubris in Versailles

Part Two: Banker for an Empire
8. A New Baron in a New Berlin
9. Imperial Style in Politics and Economics
10. Greed and Intrigue
11. The Fourth Estate
12. The Prince Enriched
13. The World of Banking and Diplomacy
14. Rumania: The Triumph of Expediency
15. The Reluctant Colonialist
16. The Fall of Bismarck

Part Three: The Anguish of Assimilation
17. The Jew as Patriotic Parvenu
18. The Hostage of the New Anti-Semitism
19. The Embittered End

Epilogue: The Fall of a Family
A recognized authority on modern Europe, Fritz Stern (1938–2016) was a Seth Low Professor of History and former provost at Columbia University. He held three degrees from Columbia, where he taught for over four decades. He also taught at Cornell, Yale, the Free University of Berlin, and the University of Konstanz in West Germany, and as Élie Halévy Professor at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He received a DLitt from Oxford in 1985 and the Leopold-Lucas Prize from the Evangelical-Theological Faculty of the University of Tübingen in 1984. His works include The Varieties of History: From Voltaire to the Present; Dreams and Delusions: National Socialism in the Drama of the German Past; Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire, which was nominated for a National Book Award; The Politics of Cultural Despair; and The Failure of Illiberalism. View titles by Fritz Stern

About

Winner of the Lionel Trilling Award
Nominated for the National Book Award


"An invaluable contribution to our understanding of Germany in the second half of the 19th century" (The Washington Post), Gold and Iron portrays for the first time the close ties between Bismarck and his Jewish banker, Gerson Bleichroder, and the social and political milieu of nineteenth-century Germany.

Contents

Part One: The Hazardous Rise, 1859-1871
1. First Encounter: Junker and Jew
2. Bismarck's Struggle for Survival
3. Between the Throne and the Gallows
4. A Banker's share in Bismarck's Triumph
5. Bismarck's Purse and Bleichroder's Place
6. The Third War
7. Hubris in Versailles

Part Two: Banker for an Empire
8. A New Baron in a New Berlin
9. Imperial Style in Politics and Economics
10. Greed and Intrigue
11. The Fourth Estate
12. The Prince Enriched
13. The World of Banking and Diplomacy
14. Rumania: The Triumph of Expediency
15. The Reluctant Colonialist
16. The Fall of Bismarck

Part Three: The Anguish of Assimilation
17. The Jew as Patriotic Parvenu
18. The Hostage of the New Anti-Semitism
19. The Embittered End

Epilogue: The Fall of a Family

Author

A recognized authority on modern Europe, Fritz Stern (1938–2016) was a Seth Low Professor of History and former provost at Columbia University. He held three degrees from Columbia, where he taught for over four decades. He also taught at Cornell, Yale, the Free University of Berlin, and the University of Konstanz in West Germany, and as Élie Halévy Professor at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He received a DLitt from Oxford in 1985 and the Leopold-Lucas Prize from the Evangelical-Theological Faculty of the University of Tübingen in 1984. His works include The Varieties of History: From Voltaire to the Present; Dreams and Delusions: National Socialism in the Drama of the German Past; Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire, which was nominated for a National Book Award; The Politics of Cultural Despair; and The Failure of Illiberalism. View titles by Fritz Stern

Three Penguin Random House Authors Win Pulitzer Prizes

On Monday, May 5, three Penguin Random House authors were honored with a Pulitzer Prize. Established in 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes are the most prestigious awards in American letters. To date, PRH has 143 Pulitzer Prize winners, including William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Josh Steinbeck, Ron Chernow, Anne Applebaum, Colson Whitehead, and many more. Take a look at our 2025 Pulitzer Prize

Read more

Books for LGBTQIA+ Pride Month

In June we celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month, which honors the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Pride Month is a time to both celebrate the accomplishments of those in the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the ongoing struggles faced by many across the world who wish to live

Read more