The swan king : Ludwig II of Bavaria / Christopher McIntosh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McIntosh, Christopher, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, 1845-1886.

Bavaria (Germany)--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Bavaria (Germany)--History--1777-1918.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xx, 331 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 20 cm

Edition:

New revised edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2012.

Summary:

The Swan King is the biography of one of the most enigmatic figures of the nineteenth century, described by Verlaine as 'the only true king of his century'. A man of wildly eccentric temperament and touched by a rare, imaginative genius, Ludwig II of Bavaria is remembered both for his patronage of Richard Wagner and for the fabulous palaces that he created as part of a dream-world to escape the responsibilities of state. In the realization of his fantasies, he created a ferment of creativity among artists and craftsmen, while his neglect of Bavaria's political interests made powerful enemies among those critical of his self-indulgence and excesses. At the age of 40, declared insane in a plot to depose him, Ludwig died in mysterious circumstances. What truly happened on that fateful night has never been discovered. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Northern Apollo Reborn 1

2 The Captive Years 17

3 From Cage to Throne 31

4 The Coming of the Friend 41

5 The Second Lola 55

6 A Triumph, an Idyll and a Parting 79

7 Germany in Turmoil 97

8 Sophie 115

9 Lilla ... and Others 129

10 Wagnerian Strains 139

11 A Crucial Decade: 1866-76 155

12 Fantasies in Stone 183

13 Dreams of E1 Dorado 205

14 Ludwig II and the Theatre 213

15 Forbidden Longings 225

16 Farewell to Wagner 237

17 The Twilight Years 247

18 The Trap Closes 271

19 Prophecies Fulfilled 289.

Notes:

Originally published: London: Allen Lane, 1982.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781848858473

1848858477

OCLC:

782998115