Translated by Robert Savage<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A major new biography of the iconic Austrian empress that challenges the many myths about her life and rule<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Maria Theresa (1717\u20131780) was once the most powerful woman in Europe. At the age of twenty-three, she ascended to the throne of the Habsburg Empire, a far-flung realm composed of diverse ethnicities and languages, beset on all sides by enemies and rivals. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger provides the definitive biography of Maria Theresa, situating this exceptional empress within her time while dispelling the myths surrounding her. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger<\/strong> is professor of early modern history at the University of M\u00fcnster and rector of the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin. Her books include The Holy Roman Empire: A Short History<\/em> (Princeton) and The Emperor’s Old Clothes: Constitutional History and the Symbolic Language of the Holy Roman Empire<\/em>. She lives in Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “A monumental feat of scholarship that represents the first comprehensive reappraisal of the empress’ life and legacy since the mid-19th century. . . . Ms. Stollberg-Rilinger excels at both detail and grand scale, and translator Robert Savage never lets her down. Her description of the Habsburg Monarchy’s complex machinery, her analysis of the arcane workings of the Holy Roman Empire, and her exposition of the family’s marriage strategies are all masterpieces in miniature.”\u2014A. Wess Mitchell, Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger\u2019s biography is a landmark in the historiography of the Habsburg Monarchy. All praise and thanks are due to Princeton University Press for such a beautifully produced and well-translated volume, and also to the original German publisher (C. H. Beck) for allowing the author enough space to do justice to Maria Theresa\u2019s life and times.”\u2014Tim Blanning, Times Literary Supplement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “More than a biography of a remarkable figure, this study presents a sweeping view of the eighteenth century.”\u2014Ben Riley, New Criterion<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Impressive”\u2014John Adamson, Literary Review<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “This sweeping work by Stollberg-Rilinger, an expert on the Holy Roman Empire, will stand as the definitive study for many years to come.”\u2014Tony Barber, Financial Times.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “An entertaining masterpiece that reveals sides of an extraordinary woman never before seen.”\u2014A. N. Wilson, Catholic Herald<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “What marks this work out from previous efforts is surely its well-rounded, holistic approach to its subject . . . .Stollberg-Rilinger\u2019s text is long but not excessive in Robert Savage\u2019s attractive translation. Her book could be a model for how such biographies of the great and the good are constructed: a wealth of contextual detail and quirky anecdotes are marshalled in pursuit of a grand vision which becomes more than the sum of its parts.”\u2014Miles Pattenden, Australian Book Review<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Stollberg-Rilinger examines all facets of eighteenth-century society, from piety and patronage to sexuality and childcare, ceremonial life at court, diplomacy, and the everyday indignities of warfare. She challenges the idealized image of Maria Theresa as an enlightened reformer and mother of her lands who embodied both feminine beauty and virile bellicosity, showing how she despised the ideas of the Enlightenment, treated her children with relentless austerity, and mercilessly persecuted Protestants and Jews. Work, consistent physical and mental discipline, and fear of God were the principles Maria Theresa lived by, and she demanded the same from her family, her court, and her subjects.
A panoramic work of scholarship that brings Europe\u2019s age of empire spectacularly to life, Maria Theresa<\/em> paints an unforgettable portrait of the uncompromising yet singularly charismatic woman who left her enduring mark on the era in which she lived and\u00a0reigned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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