Twilight of empire, the tragedy at Mayerling and the end of the Habsburgs, Greg King and Penny Wilson
Type
Label
Twilight of empire, the tragedy at Mayerling and the end of the Habsburgs, Greg King and Penny Wilson
Language
eng
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-318) and index
resource.biographical
contains biographical information
Illustrations
platesillustrations
Index
index present
Literary Form
non fiction
Main title
Twilight of empire
Nature of contents
bibliography
Oclc number
967094176
Responsibility statement
Greg King and Penny Wilson
Sub title
the tragedy at Mayerling and the end of the Habsburgs
Summary
On a snowy January morning in 1889, a worried servant hacked open a locked door at the remote hunting lodge deep in the Vienna Woods. Inside, he found two bodies sprawled on an ornate bed, blood oozing from their mouths. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary appeared to have shot his seventeen-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera as she slept, sat with the corpse for hours and, when dawn broke, turned the pistol on himself. A century has transformed this bloody scene into romantic tragedy: star-crossed lovers who preferred death together than to be parted by a cold, unfeeling Viennese Court. But Mayerling is also the story of family secrets: incestuous relationships and mental instability; blackmail, venereal disease, and political treason; and a disillusioned, morphine-addicted Crown Prince and a naïve schoolgirl caught up in a dangerous and deadly waltz inside a decaying empire. What happened in that lockedroom remains one of history's most evocative mysteries: What led Rudolf and mistress to this desperate act? Was it really a suicide pact? Or did something far more disturbing take place at that remote hunting lodge and result in murder?
Target audience
adult