- Social forces and enlightened policies
- Philosophical kingship and enlightened despotism
- Christians and 'philosophes' : the case of the Austrian enlightenment
- Mozart and the Habsburgs
- The false Joseph II
- Joseph II's Rêveries
- Love and the empire : Maria Theresa and her co-regents
- Maria Theresa, Joseph II and the suppression of the Jesuits
- Joseph II ans the monasteries of Austria and Hungary
- The origins of the Pope's visit to Joseph II in 1782
- Was Joseph II an enlightened despot?
- Joseph II and Josephism.
The 18th century was a unique period of global and fundamental change. Britain conquered India and much of America, the American Revolution produced the USA, and Russia expanded vastly. In the field of ideas the Scientific Revolution was consolidated and followed by the Enlightenment. Nationalism flourished, populations surged, and the Commercial and Industrial Revolutions with Western technology eclipsed the East. Few centuries have inspired such a galaxy of historians, and their groundbreaking work has been drawn upon by Derek Beales in his collection of articles and special lectures. He covers the whole European kaleidoscope, but focuses especially on Joseph II and the Hapburg monarchy, asserting that Enlightened Despotism was the emodiment of the century's revolution in ideas, politics, government and administration.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)