"The story of the Habsburgs is no less than the story of Austria and the formation of all Europe as we know it. For nearly 650 years this extraordinary family contrived to back their considerable territory with the quasi-mystical authority of the Imperial crown; at times they came close to dominating half the world. There was a brooding quality about many of the Habsburgs which distinguished them as monarchs and enhanced the image of their power, an image compounded largely of Catholic bigotry and Imperial reaction. The absence of great outward show not only made the power embodied in a single ruler seem all the more terrible."