Maria Theresa of Austria: Full-Blooded Politician, Devoted Wife and Mother-to-All

In 1740, destiny sweeps the young Maria Theresa of Austria to the top of the Habsburg throne. The twenty-three-year old greenhorn turns out to be dynamite: with vigor, determination and great charm, Habsburg’s only woman ruler parries the onslaught of a host of enemies, has sixteen children in twenty years by her beloved husband, Francis of Lorraine, reforms her huge Habsburg Empire from head to toe and parties as if there were no tomorrow. The unusually rich array of topics – politics, economics, child rearing, marital politics, fun and games, contemporery morals – as well as its focus on the strong, colorful personalities of Maria Theresa, her family and other leading figures of her age, makes this a most informative, entertaining and immensely readable historical account.