He turned and looked at her with a benevolent smile. "Come hither, my child," said he. "You would speak with the emperor. I am he."The girl uttered a stifled cry, and falling on her knees, she hid her death-like face in her hands. For she had recognized her unknown protector. Yes, this noble man, who had proffered help and promised protection, this was the emperor, and to his face she had called him miser and tyrant!-from "Chapter XXXV: The Disguise Removed"In the constrained culture of 19th-century Europe, Luise M hlbach was thwarted in her desire to become a historian, so instead she wrote historical novels in her native German-more than 100 of them, most of which were bestsellers in Europe and many of which were translated into English, with great success.This 1865 novel, set among the intrigue of the court of Austrian emperor Joseph II, is a wonderful example of German literary realism, a movement to which M hlbach was an important contributor, though one frequently overlooked today. And it is a shining model of the fierce feminism M hlbach evinced in her life as well as her fiction-Empress Maria Theresa is a potent presence here, a beautifully realized womanly force.With deftly realized characters-male and female-and page-turning plots, M hlbach's stirring historical novels are ready to find a new readership today.Luise M hlbach was the pseudonym of German author LUISE MUHLBACH (1814-1873). Among her many works of historical fiction are A Conspiracy of the Carbonari, The Daughter of an Empress, Henry VIII and His Court, Marie Antoinette and Her Son, and Napoleon and Blucher.

This volume describes the claustrophobic atmosphere, in which Joseph was trained to rule, and his attempts after 1765 as co-regent with his formidable mother.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1867.

"This book presents the American Revolution from the perspective of the Habsburg monarchy. It reveals how, despite seeming antithetical to the American cause, the Habsburg dynasty and people in the Habsburg lands realized the opportunity unleashed by the creation of the thirteen United States of America, demonstrating the wider effects of the American Revolution beyond the standard Atlantic World and portraying the Habsburg Monarchy in a new, oceanic light"--

Drawing on original correspondence, this book sheds new light on the influential role played by five Habsburg princesses during the reforming reign of Joseph II. It also provides a vivid picture of aristocratic life in eighteenth-century Europe.

In this first up-do-date, single volume history of the Czechs, Agnew provides an introduction to the major themes and contours of Czech history for the general reader from prehistory and the first Slavs to the Czech Republic's entry into the European Union."

Appendix 2: A masterclass in opera, for those who love it or hate it -- Index of names and works

This final volume of Derek Beales's magisterial biography of the emperor Joseph II describes the critical period when he was sole ruler of the Austrian monarchy. Explaining his motivation and showing how his ideas developed, Derek Beales reveals that Joseph left an ineffaceable mark on all his lands.