This important book advances a new interpretation of the Holy Roman Empire that promises to free analyses of the empire's inner workings from the burdens of contemporary political memory. Stollberg-Rilinger makes the imperial political system, endlessly complex though it was, accessible and comprehensible to a wider audience.--David M. Luebke, author of Hometown Religion: Regimes of Coexistence in Early Modern Westphalia ukryj opis