Frederick the Great

Frederick the Great

The Prussian king Frederick II is today best remembered for successfully defending his tiny country against the three great European powers of France, Austria, and Russia during the Seven Yearsâ€™ War. But in his youth, tormented by a spectacularly cruel and dyspeptic father, the future military genius was drawn to the flute and French poetry, and throughout his long life counted nothing more important than the company of good friends and great wits. This was especially evident in his longstanding, loving, and vexing relationship with Voltaire. An absolute ruler who was allergic to pomp, a non-hunter who wore no spurs, a reformer of great zeal who maintained complete freedom of the press and religion and cleaned up his countryâ€™s courts, a fiscal conservative and patron of the arts, the builder of the rococo palace Sans Souci and improver of the farmersâ€™ lot, maddening to his rivals but beloved by nearly everyone he met, Frederick wasâ€”notwithstanding a penchant for merciless teasingâ€”arguably the most humane of enlightened despots.

In Frederick the Great, a richly entertaining biography of one of the eighteenth centuryâ€™s most fascinating figures, the trademark wit of the author of Love in a Cold Climate finds its ideal subject.
Country USA
Brand New York Review of Books
Manufacturer NYRB Classics
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 1590176235
Color Multicolor
ReleaseDate 2013-07-23
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781590176238

Country	USA
Brand	New York Review of Books
Manufacturer	NYRB Classics
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	1590176235
Color	Multicolor
ReleaseDate	2013-07-23
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781590176238

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