{"product_id":"maria-theresa-empress-the-making-of-the-austrian-enlightenment-9780300243987","title":"Maria Theresa: Empress: The Making of the Austrian Enlightenment","description":"\u003cb\u003eA major new biography of Maria Theresa, the formidable Habsburg Empress\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Maria Theresa was the single most powerful woman in eighteenth-century Europe. At the age of just twenty-three she succeeded to the Habsburg domains only to find them contested by almost every power in Europe. Over the next forty years, she became a fierce leader and opponent, as well as a devoted wife and mother to sixteen children. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this engrossing biography, Richard Bassett traces Maria Theresa's life and complex legacy. Drawing on hitherto unpublished sources, Bassett reveals her keen sense of moderation and tolerance, innovative ideas on free trade and finance, and studied reluctance to resort to policies of territorial expansion. Yet Maria Theresa's modernisation policies were not entirely progressive. Antisemitism and an enduring suspicion of Protestantism greatly affected the lives of her subjects. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This is a gripping study of one of the world's most influential leaders, revealing how Maria Theresa confounded gendered expectations and left a lasting mark on Europe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Bassett\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of several books, most notably \u003ci\u003eFor God and Kaiser\u003c\/i\u003e, the first history of the Habsburg army to be published in English. An authority on Central Europe where he has worked for 45 years, he is a Bye-Fellow of Christ's College Cambridge and a visiting professor at the Central Europe University of Budapest.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Yale University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51185778557202,"sku":"9780300243987","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_de37123f-688e-4377-9bc1-148f5895a61d.jpg?v=1744586891","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/maria-theresa-empress-the-making-of-the-austrian-enlightenment-9780300243987","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}