In 1871 Anglo-German relations entered a new phase that was keenly observed by the British diplomats to Germany whose reports are included in this volume (the first of a two-volume mini-series which covers the years up to 1897). Yet, when compared with the reports from the German Confederation selected for the preceding series, British Envoys to Germany, 1816–1866, change was subtle, and many of the qualities and characteristics of the diplomatic reportage from Germany can be seen to persist. In fact, the seemingly anachronistic maintenance of British diplomatic relations with the federal states of the newly founded German empire has inspired the continuation of the Envoys editorial project. While diplomatic reports from Germany after 1897 – when dispatches from the smaller German courts gradually lose their bite – have been made widely available through previous document collections, British Envoys to the Kaiserreich presents far less well-known perspectives on and attitudes towards Germany. These multifaceted observations by British diplomats preclude any sort of teleological account of the new Kaiserreich leading up to 1914, and it is to be hoped that there will be future opportunity (and funding) to present the reportage in the eventful years 1867–1870 in order to gain an even more nuanced understanding of nineteenth-century Anglo–German relations.