Against the accepted view that Friedrich II was a model of an enlightened sovereign, Aleksandar Molnar shows in this book that the King’s philosophical interests were mostly personal curiosity; in no way did his interest in enlightenment spill over into governing the state. Friedrich’s Prussia saw the strengthening of the idea of raison d’état, that provided the basis for militarism, as well as the idea of an organic unity of ruler and subjects, along with nationalism.