T. C. W Blanning

Chronicles European history from the end of the Thirty Years' War to the Battle of Waterloo, featuring vivid coverage of such events as the Enlightenment period, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic era.

A portrait of the contradictory ruler who helped elevate Prussia to a first-rate power in the eighteenth century explores such topics as his military accomplishments, his long relationship with Voltaire, and his embrace of Enlightenment philosophies.