This is a study of the extraordinary political career of Prince Adam Czartoryski, a Polish patriot who rose to become foreign minister of the Russian Empire under Tsar Alexander I. A controversial figure of both Poland and Russia, Czartoryski played a leading role in the struggle against Napoleon Bonaparte and was instrumental in the establishment of a Polish state by the Congress of Vienna. Zawadzki's scholarly and perceptive account, based on intensive research, explores the personal, political, ideological, and economic bases of Czartoryski's long association with Russia. He assesses his role in international relations during the Napoleonic era, and examines his contribution to the cause of enlightened reform.
A Man of Honour
sets Czartoryski in his context as a major figure in the political history of early nineteenth-century Europe and deepens our understanding of the complex elements at work in the founding of modern Poland.