How Long to Read The Shadow of the Empress

How Long Does it Take to Read The Shadow of the Empress?

It takes the average reader 5 hours and 30 minutes to read The Shadow of the Empress by Larry Wolff

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

A beguiling exploration of the last Habsburg monarchs' grip on Europe's historical and cultural imagination. In 1919 the last Habsburg rulers, Emperor Karl and Empress Zita, left Austria, going into exile. That same year, the fairy-tale opera Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Shadow), featuring a mythological emperor and empress, premiered at the Vienna Opera. Viennese poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal and German composer Richard Strauss created Die Frau ohne Schatten through the bitter years of World War I, imagining it would triumphantly appear after the victory of the German and Habsburg empires. Instead, the premiere came in the aftermath of catastrophic defeat. The Shadow of the Empress: Fairy-Tale Opera and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy explores how the changing circumstances of politics and society transformed their opera and its cultural meanings before, during, and after the First World War. Strauss and Hofmannsthal turned emperors and empresses into fantastic fairy-tale characters; meanwhile, following the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy after the war, their real-life counterparts, removed from political life in Europe, began to be regarded as anachronistic, semi-mythological figures. Reflecting on the seismic cultural shifts that rocked post-imperial Europe, Larry Wolff follows the story of Karl and Zita after the loss of their thrones. Karl died in 1922, but Zita lived through the rise of Nazism, World War II, and the Cold War. By her death in 1989, she had herself become a fairy-tale figure, a totem of imperial nostalgia. Wolff weaves together the story of the opera's composition and performance; the end of the Habsburg monarchy; and his own family's life in and exile from Central Europe, providing a rich new understanding of Europe's cataclysmic twentieth century, and our contemporary relationship to it.

How long is The Shadow of the Empress?

The Shadow of the Empress by Larry Wolff is 330 pages long, and a total of 82,500 words.

This makes it 111% the length of the average book. It also has 101% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read The Shadow of the Empress Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 7 hours and 30 minutes to read The Shadow of the Empress aloud.

What Reading Level is The Shadow of the Empress?

The Shadow of the Empress is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy The Shadow of the Empress?

The Shadow of the Empress by Larry Wolff is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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