In this study Ghibellino sets out to show that the platonic relationship between Goethe and
Charlotte von Stein - lady-in-waiting to Anna Amalia the Dowager Duchess of Weimar - was used
as part of a cover-up for Goethe's intense and prolonged love relationship with the Duchess
Anna Amalia herself. The book attempts to uncover a hitherto closely guarded state secret.
Readers convinced by the evidence supporting Ghibellino's hypothesis will see in it one of the
very great love stories in European history - to rank with that of Dante and Beatrice and
Petrarch and Laura.
