Book 3: The Reluctant Empress
3 THE RELUCTANT EMPRESS Brigitte Hamann (Germany, 1982)
A biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi (1854-1898)
I have been to both Vienna and Munich on different holidays, and each time the presence of the beautiful and mysterious empress was mentioned by museums and tour guides. Of course, there're also the cheesy movies I watched when I was a kid. I decided it was time for me to know a little more about her, beyond the myth.
This biography is fantastic. I discovered an intelligent woman who hated life at court. Prone to depression, she found solace in traveling, riding horses, an writing poetry. Moreover, her her love of Hungary and the Hungarian people strongly influenced the fateful creation of Austria-Hungary as a joint monarchy.
Hamann does a great job at acknowledging the intelligence of the Empress, as well as her tragic selfishness, and makes this biography one of the best I've read.
5/5
A biography of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi (1854-1898)
I have been to both Vienna and Munich on different holidays, and each time the presence of the beautiful and mysterious empress was mentioned by museums and tour guides. Of course, there're also the cheesy movies I watched when I was a kid. I decided it was time for me to know a little more about her, beyond the myth.
This biography is fantastic. I discovered an intelligent woman who hated life at court. Prone to depression, she found solace in traveling, riding horses, an writing poetry. Moreover, her her love of Hungary and the Hungarian people strongly influenced the fateful creation of Austria-Hungary as a joint monarchy.
Hamann does a great job at acknowledging the intelligence of the Empress, as well as her tragic selfishness, and makes this biography one of the best I've read.
5/5