Camillo Cavour and Otto Bismarck are the builders of Italian and German nation-states and two great models of political leadership. Exercising political leadership according to the liberal parliamentary logic, in a full of contrasts, hard and bright policy dynamic, Cavour is a leader in the parliament and in force of parliament. This creates the "Cavour model", that becomes attractive for the German liberals. But the German unit follows other roads thanks to Bismarck, who embodies the principle of monarchical authority, but using democratic tools. In constant tension and conflict with the parliament, Bismarck can use the formidable military apparatus of the Prussian army. On the background of the Italian events of the 1859-61 and the German ones in 1866-67, the book covers the political decision-making of Cavour and Bismarck, their styles of government between liberalism and Caesarism in a dialectic way still current in contemporary political life.