A Word, Only a Word

Name: A Word, Only a Word
Rating: 2.5 (5 reviews)

by Georg Ebers

First published 1893

Amazon Gutenberg EPUB

2.5(5)

Beginning in the Black Forest, the novel follows Ulrich from a troubled childhood into the world of painting, the Spanish court and eventually war. His search for a single guiding ‘word’ becomes a way of testing competing ideals—art, fame, duty and love—as his life carries him through sharply different social worlds.

The later action places Ulrich amid the age of Philip II, Don John of Austria, Lepanto and the war in the Netherlands. Religious persecution, royal authority and the brutality of campaigning complicate his ambition, turning a coming-of-age story into a wide-ranging portrait of sixteenth-century Europe in conflict.