Empress Elisabeth of Austria was well-known for her travels as she wished to spend as little time as possible with her husband in Vienna. One of her favourite destinations was Greece, and she even had a villa named the Achilleion built on Corfu. Unfortunately, she lost interest in the villa a few years before her death. The villa was inherited by her daughter Archduchess Gisela, and it was bought by German Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1907.
Under the Spell of a Myth: Empress Sisi in Greece by Stefan Haderer goes into detail about every trip Elisabeth made to Greece and the Greek readers who accompanied her while there. While largely enjoyable, the level of detail does make it a bit monotonous at times. I also could have done without the biographies of the ten readers, which cover an entire chapter. Nevertheless, you can certainly tell that the author has done his research, and for that, I can only commend him. However, I do not agree with the statement that Elisabeth was obsessed with physical exercise because of her painful joints rather than because of an eating disorder.
Overall, Under the Spell of a Myth: Empress Sisi in Greece by Stefan Haderer is a good book about Empress Elisabeth’s travels to Greece, but this in-depth look may perhaps be a bit much for the casual reader.
Under the Spell of a Myth: Empress Sisi in Greece by Stefan Haderer is available now in the US and the UK.
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