PREFACE.
The greater portion of the following pages were completed before the death of Prince Bismarck; I take this opportunity of apologising to the publishers and the editor of the series, for the unavoidable delay which has caused publication to be postponed for a year.
During this period, two works have appeared to which some reference is necessary.

The value of Busch's _Memoirs_ has been much exaggerated; except for quite the last years of Bismarck's life they contain little new information which is of any importance.

Not only had a large portion of the book already been published in Busch's two earlier books, but many of the anecdotes and documents in those parts which were new had also been published elsewhere.
Bismarck's own _Memoirs_ have a very different value: not so much because of the new facts which they record, but because of the light they throw on Bismarck's character and on the attitude he adopted towards men and political problems.

With his letters and speeches, they will always remain the chief source for our knowledge of his inner life.
The other authorities are so numerous that it is impossible here to enumerate even the more important.

I must, however, express the gratitude which all students of Bismarck's career owe to Horst Kohl; in his _Bismarck-Regesten_ he has collected and arranged the material so as infinitely to lighten the labours of all others who work in the same field.