Justin C. Vovk

In Destiny's Hands: Five Tragic Rulers, Children of Maria Theresa Justin C. Vovk First edition

Justin Vovk's In Destiny's Hands is the heartbreaking story of five children of Austria's iconic empress, Maria Theresa, who watched as their royal worlds were ripped apart by tragedy and epic misfortunes. These are the stories of Joseph, whose disastrous reign forced Austria to the brink of civil war; Amalia, the brazen and scandalous duchess who married a boy-prince and died exiled and forgotten; Leopold, Maria Theresa's unassuming second son, who was the envy of Europe until his tumultuous reign was cut tragically short; Maria Carolina, the very Austrian queen of Naples, who ended her days fighting Napoleon with her dying breath; and Marie Antoinette, the legendary teenage bride, who was hated and reviled as Queen of France and met her ultimate fate on the guillotine, a testimony to her mother's vain ambition. Painstakingly researched and masterfully crafted, In Destiny's Hands brings to vivid life the world of the eighteenth century like never before.