Maria Theresa

Sinopse

Biografia de Maria Teresa da Áustria. Edição em Inglês

«Only by keeping in view the essential difference between history and biography is it possible to convey any clear idea of the life of Maria Theresa within the limits of a single volume; for she belongs not only to Austria and Hungary, but to the Empire and to Europe. The standard history of her reign, by Alfred von Arneth, runs to ten quarto volumes. And the word “reign” is so literally interpreted, that the reader is plunged almost at once into her struggle to maintain herself on a throne to which she did not succeed until she was twenty-three. Other historians have given a little more attention to the first period of her existence. Travellers and memoir writers contribute a few facts. But the most trustworthy descriptions of the young Maria Theresa are to be found in diplomatic documents-dispatches sent to their own Governments by ambassadors to the Court of Vienna. In the later stages of her career, her letters are the best commentary on her life and the fullest revelation of her character. Though brought up on conventional lines, she soon abandoned the stiff epistolary style of her day, and wrote, as she spoke, easily, directly, and forcibly. Through the medium of her letters we may still come into touch with one of the most human and attractive personalities of the eighteenth century. We can listen to her own account of her likes and dislikes, her joys and sorrows, and realize more vividly than would otherwise be possible the peculiar interest of her family relationships.» in Preface