With the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia added to their Austrian titles, the Habsburgs faced the challenge of the Protestant Reformation and the pressure of the Ottoman Turks, but the dynasty’s good fortune in its marriages ran out for the Spanish branch in 1700, and the world-wide footprint of the Habsburgs shrank back to European dimensions. He follows the Habsburgs as they moved the centre of their power into Central Europe, raised their prestige by gaining the title of Holy Roman Emperor, and expanded their reach globally with the addition of Spain and its possessions in the New World and the Pacific. Beginning with the dynasty’s obscure origins in the extreme southwestern corner of the German lands, he traces its ups and downs through the centuries. Facing the daunting challenge of chronicling the fortunes of a dynasty whose rule once spanned the globe, Martyn Rady has responded with a balanced, incisive and eminently readable account of the Habsburg family and its significance. Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books, London, 2020. The Habsburgs: The Rise and Fall of a World Power. In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:
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