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.