Maria Theresa

By the time of his death in 1740, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI had taken extensive measures to secure the throne for his daughter, Maria Theresa, yet he left her woefully unprepared for the challenges of rule. Despite this, Maria Theresas blend of common sense, charisma, and strategic counsel enabled her to navigate a tumultuous forty-year reign filled with secret diplomacy, shifting alliances, relentless conflict, and ruthless realpolitik. This engaging biography by Oxford historian James Franck Bright delves into her first thirty years on the throne.