The Reluctant Empress: A Biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Reputedly the most beautiful woman of her time, Elisabeth of Bavaria was a tortured figure who was forced into a marriage with the Emperor Francis Joseph at age 15. Constantly harassed by the jackals of the Viennese court, Elisabeth came to despise her adopted land and spent her life rejecting the obligations of a Habsburg empress, wife, and mother. Drawing heavily on Elisabeth's correspondence and that of those closest to her, Hamann presents Elisabeth as an ultraneurotic with few endearing traits. Though it is certain to entertain many, the work is too introspective in approach and fails to give any significant insight into the forces that were beginning to tear old Austria asunder during Elisabeth's reign. Recommended for libraries with large Eastern European collections. Joseph W. Constance, Jr., Georgia State Univ. Lib., AtlantaCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.