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Summary: Content doesn't match title
Comment: The title of this book is misleading. This is because Mr. Brooke-Shepherd devotes most of his
attention to 20th century events in Austria. As a result, he neglects some very important (not to
mention interesting) material from before that time. For example, he spends little time discussing
the Habsburgs' long tenure as Holy Roman Emperors. Moreover, he neglects the rise of such
influential Austrians as Maria Theresa, Joseph II, and Metternich. The book is good in what it
covers, but, as earlier stated, is equally memorable for what it doesn't cover.

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Austrians: A Thousand-Year Odyssey
Comment: Gordon Brook-Shepheard's books are always informative and interesting. This book has provided me
with information I did not know.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A seminal work
Comment: A seminal work of great magnitude but weak in its analysis of pre-20th century history. This book
gives a whirlwind tour of Austrian History from 1200-1900. Then the book slows down and achieves
greatness in describing the intricacies of Franz Joseph's rule as well as WWI and the road to
Anschloss with Germany. The book picks up by describing the little know portion of Austrian
history, the post 1945 Austria. At first divided between the major power Austria then became a
`permanently' neutral power, although a power that hosted a controversial leader in the form of Mr.
Waldheim, a former Nazi. The book then covers the `awakening' of Austria as it found itself post
cold war. Although not up to date, it doesn't cover the election of the right wind Jorg Haider,
this is an excellent introduction and survey of Austrian history.

Seth J. Frantzman

Customer Rating:

Summary: Not perfect, but best overview of Austrian history avail
Comment: English-language books on the long-term history of Austria are relatively rare. Admittedly, Austria
was one of the most historically interesting places in the world during the latter part of Franz
Josef's reign-dozens of interesting books are available covering events and movements encompassing
the intellectual flowering of Wien beginning in the late Victorian period. Giant personalities in
the fields of visual art, psychology, music, philosophy, literature and theatre could seemingly be
found in every coffee house in turn-of-the century Wien.

But judging from the available books,
outside of the ever-busy Hapsburg family, little of interest to the rest of the world seems to have
taken place before the last quarter of the 19th century. This is reflected in "The Austrians",
which in spite of being a 483 page book, reaches the year 1866 by page 88. I think it would be fair
to think of the book as more like a 140-year odyssey with a very long introduction.

Outside of the
short shrift given to early Austrian history, I found this an enjoyable and informative book.
Austria is unique among modern European nations in having been for centuries the spiritual center of
one of Europe's largest empires, yet it is now a relatively small country of relatively little
influence on the world stage-the teutonic rump left over from the mostly-voluntary dissolution of a
multi-ethnic dual-monarchy. Given this relatively short period in which to develop a sense of
unique national identity, Brook-Shepherd attempts to show in his book how seminal events in Austrian
history are either influential on today's sense of nationhood (however strong that may be), or are
least illustrative of typical characteristics of Austrian culture or character. This is a difficult
task, and I think the author is only partially successful.

Still, it is a noble attempt, and
although it sometimes feels as if the author is straining to make an obscure point about Austrian
nationhood, in general, this doesn't really interfere with the book. The author has spent
significant time in post-war Austria and has a number of interesting contacts both within what is
left of the Hapsburg family and within the Austrian political sphere. He certainly cannot be blamed
for taking use of these journalistic and personal contacts in substantiating his history, and unlike
some reviewers, I did not feel that this was excessive-it did not distract from the flow of the book
for me at all. I cannot say this about the excessive use of footnotes, which I found extremely
distracting.

Overall, I found this an enjoyable and informative book. In spite of some flaws,
it is the best single-volume English-language source I've found on what is unfortunately, something
of an obscure subject. I find it to be complementary to Andrew Wheatcroft's "The Hapsburgs." It
takes a very different approach and they two books have relatively minimal overlap.

Customer Rating:

Summary: SHOULD HAVE A DIFFERENT TITLE
Comment: I found this to be an interesting book for its coverage of historical events within Austria during
the 20th century (i.e., the fall of the Hapsburg monarchy and the Nazi occupation). Brook-Shepherd
goes into pretty good detail on these events. However, he devotes much of the book to the 20th
Century, and, in a seeming contradiction to the title, does not give as much attention to pre-20th
Century developments. For example, he does not give much detail about Maria Therea or Joesph II.
Perhaps he should have devoted the book to only the 20th Century.

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