Berlin, 1740: the old king dies, and the son he beat, imprisoned and forced to watch his friend beheaded takes the throne - and within months has invaded Silesia. Mühlbach was Klara Mundt, who wrote nearly three hundred volumes and poured the courts of Europe into them; she is a gossip with archives, and her Frederick - flute, French verses, cold contempt - is the one the nineteenth century believed.

Luise Mühlbach (1814-1873) was the pen name of German author Clara Mundt. She wrote historical novels centered on European royalty and political figures, among them Joseph II and His Court, The Daughter of an Empress, and Henry VIII and His Court.