An extraordinarily confused and long-winded fictional account of the Thirty Years' War in which the Catholics and the Protestants battle royally. Karl, the not very bright young Count von Harrach, is rescued when he is wounded by the Brethren of a Moravian religious sect. He meets Sister Rosanna, beautiful, spirited, wild, determined to see something of life, who slips away to get into the thick of things. All sorts of historical personages start cropping up: the satanic Prince Wallenstein, Catholic and head of the Imperials; his opponent, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden; Chevalier de Poiron, a fop trying to establish equilibrium between the two parties, who marries Rosanna, who, in turn discovers she is of old Murenberg stock, comes to hate de Poiron and ends up loving Karl. The characters are only peripheral however, and the crux of the book has to do with political intrigue and its shuffling and weary battles. Tedious and ponderous.