Dark Spirit

Born into the royal Wittelsbach family of Bavaria, with its legacy of madness, depression and eccentricity, Ludwig II's extravagant and ruinously expensive building projects, coupled with increasingly aberrant behaviour caused the people of his day to wonder. Was Ludwig mad? Was he a genius? Was he just a lonely man, having looked for and given up on love, seeking for some kind of spiritual fulfilment? Even today, we wonder. What was the impetus behind his compulsion to build? And was he really insane or a victim of his own government's scheming.
A BRAG Medallion winner. Appleyard weaves strong stories about historical figures and occurrences with ease, her ability to connect her readers with the characters is flawless. She builds her characters with care, giving them a depth that transcends paper making them more realistic than a history book could. This is the third book of Ms. Appleyard’s I have read; she brings history alive for her readers.