This is an early, funny, iconoclastic deconstruction of the founding myths of traditional Swiss history. In contrast to the valiant struggle against oppressive Austrians, it turns out that the Swiss Confederacy resulted from the locals trying to escape the restrictive power of the "dead hand", the church and its monasteries. Given the neglect and absence of strong feudal leadership in the area, the locals were relatively free to plunder and molest church property. The church naturally complained to the distant feudal authorities which undertook punitive expeditions which failed miserably. In contrast to tradition, the Swiss Confederacy had excellent relations with the German Emperors (who didn't care all that much about those mostly empty woodlands). Swiss national hero Wilhelm Tell is outed as a post festum invention which borrowed heavily from Scandinavian fairy tales.

Remains a great read. ( )