Helga Peham: Leopold II. Herrscher mit weiser Hand. (Vienna 1987)

[mildred_of_midgard]

selenak: Preface by Adam Wandruszka: Leopold is the coolest! I don't know why more people aren't stanning him. Smartest and most modern Habsburg ruler ever. Now I can't complain about the lack of attention my own biography of Leopold has received - I got lots of attention - but I'm so glad Helga Peham joins the cause of Leopold appreciation! May her book about our Leopold - he really writes "our" Leopold - also become successful and further the cause. Leopold Forever!

Main book: solid biography with some double standard tendencies, but not many, and nothing in a big 19th century Fritz stan or Nancy Goldstone category. It does its job of presenting Leopold as very competent indeed, though I'm afraid I'm still not a fan, and I do have a suspicion as to why there are way more Joseph and MT biographies than there are Leopold ones, and no, it's not that he only got to rule the Empire for two years. (There are more Italian books about him as Grand Duke of Tuscany than there are German ones, though.) But in order.

( Leopold )