In the winter of 1884, at Bismarck’s invitation, the great powers gathered for a conference at which an entire continent, with all its riches, was to be divided up: Africa. The aim is to save the natives from paganism and slavery – but who says you can’t make a tidy profit from doing good deeds?
Austria is represented by Legation Councillor Strinetzky, as the ambassador is unable to attend: Franz Liszt has dedicated a piano piece to him, so he has to practise. Strinetzky, however, has quite different problems. To finance his affair with an actress, he has channelled considerable sums of money to a fictitious expert named ‘Doctor Waldbach’. Now, all of a sudden, a real Waldbach turns up in Berlin. The fraud is in danger of being exposed; Strinetzky urgently needs to raise 5,000 guilders. And then, to make matters worse, he accidentally insults a Prussian officer, who challenges him to a duel in the Grunewald.
With such worries hanging over him, the legation councillor wanders through the diplomatic arena, where the international powers are watching each other warily. Unexpectedly, necessity turns Strinetzky into a shrewd negotiator – with global political consequences. (Publisher)

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