The fall of Metternic in the revolutions which swept Europe in 1948
heralded an era of unprecedented nationalism, which culminated in the
collapse of the Halbsburg, Romanav, and Hohenszollern dynasties at the
of the First World War. In the intervening seventy years which are the
subject of this book, the boundaries of Europe changed dramatically from
those established at Vienna in 1815: Cavour championed the cause of
"Risorgimento" in Italy; Bismarck brought about the unification of
Germany; while the Great Powers scrambled for a place in the sun in
Africa.