Geoffry Wawro, The Austro-Prussian War: Austria"s War with Prussia and Italy in 1866. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1996. Pp. xiii, 313.

             One nation. A single, unified nation powerful enough to plunge Europe and the world into two of the most devastating wars in history. That is the legacy of Germany. Two world wars are all we remember of a unified Germany. But, we never remember the struggle that took place to create such an entity. As Geoffry Wawro covers well in this book, the Austro-Prussian War was the turning point in German history that allowed Prussia to become the major figure in German affairs and start to unify the German confederation under one power, ending years of Austrian interference. Although wading through the tactical and strategic events of this war in detail, Wawro does not lose sight of the very important political aspects of this war, which began Germany"s unification in earnest. This unification of Germany would prove to be one of the most influential events in Europe, with its effects being felt well into the next century. A unified Germany, and others" fear of it, would be one of the stumbling blocks that would lead to the first "Great War" and quickly after it, another one. But without Prussia"s ascendance to the top of the German states, both World Wars might not have happened. So it is about time to lavish some of the attention given those two wars on one of its major causes, which Wawro does a great job of.

             Geoffry Wawro himself is a rather young writer. A recent graduate of Yale, Wawro"s book is an expansion on his doctoral dissertation, which won him a fellowship from the Austrian Cultural Institute in 1994 for Best Dissertation on Austrian Culture. This fellowship allowed him to spend two years converting his dissertation into this book. Although young and relatively new to book writing, Wawro shows a good grasp of the tools necessary to be a successful writer.