Patrick Geoghegan's book provides a short overview of Castlereagh life and career, one that focuses on Castlereagh's role as an Irish politician. Roughly 2/3 of the book covers his career up to the passage of the Act of Union in 1801; the remainder of his career including the critical decade he spent as Foreign Secretary, are crammed into two brief chapters afterward. This is perhaps understandable given the nature of the series in which it was published, though it does limit the utility of the book as an assessment of Castlereagh's significance in terms of British and European history. Nevertheless, there is no better book for anyone seeking a brief introduction to this oft-demonized political figure. ( )