T C W Blanning 
Joseph II [PDF ebook] 

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.