The Empress Conspiracy

By Fletcher Ware

The history of the Austria-Hungary Empire is a history of much of Europe. The family Habsburg ruled this empire for nearly 700 years-the longest reign of any of the nobility who controlled nation-states in Europe. The time of our novel is 1893 and is set in Imperial Vienna, the grand capital of the Empire. It was the forty-fifth year of Emperor Franz Josef's rule.Over the centuries a romantic aura has embraced Vienna, fascinating writers, musicians and lovers. As The Empress Conspiracy developed, my wife and I were not immune to its attraction. Certainly the strains of waltz music and images of beautiful women guided expertly by uniformed men across the ballroom in part motivated our work. Underneath this chimera of glamourous Vienna in 1893, however, was an angst infecting much of the diverse population of the Empire. The nationalities which comprised the empire-Austrian Germans, Hungarian Magyars, Italians, Czechs, Slovenes, Croats, Little Russians of Ruthenia and others-all competed for political and economic advantage. This amalgam of ethnic rivalries created seething tensions and conspiracies leading to acts of violence.The novel is replete with roman-a-clef characters. We have integrated these historical figures in me telling of this one fictional conspiracy. Our research provided a considerable understanding of the political and social milieu of late nineteenth century Austria-Hungary. Obviously it could never be complete, but we did our very best to be correct. Similarly, our visits over the years provided the physical substance, but we made certain modifications to reality for story purposes. None of the above were frequent or significant.Our research and travel has provided us so much satisfaction. The support we received from different sources was gratifying. The pleasure of just being able to meet the friendly people, see the incredibly magnificent scenery, absorb the culture and hear the sounds of Austria made the writing of The Empress Conspiracy a pleasure, which we hope our readers will feel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1497425255
• ISBN13: 9781497425255
• Release Date: March 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"