Joseph II

Joseph II (1741--90) -- son and eventual successor of Maria Theresa -- has conventionally been seen in the context of the Enlightened Despot'' reformers. Today's turmoil in his former territories invites a rather different perspective however as Joseph grapples with the familiar and intractable problems of creating a viable unitary state out of his multi-national empire in Central Europe. Professor Blanning's brilliant short study based on extensive archival research offers a history of the Habsburg monarchy in the eighteenth century as well as a revaluation of the emperor's complex personality and his ill-fated reform programme.