The Austrians: A Thousand-Year Odyssey
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List Price: $23.00 $14.40 $ 8.60 ( 37% ) Basic Books Gordon Brook-Shepherd
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 940EAN: 9780786711024ISBN: 0786711027Label: Basic BooksManufacturer: Basic BooksNumber Of Items: 1Number Of Pages: 512Publication Date: 2002-12-23Publisher: Basic BooksStudio: Basic Books
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Editorial Reviews: This is a masterful survey of Austria's controversial place at the heart of European history. From the Reformation through the Napoleonic and Cold Wars to European Union, a superb history of Austria's central role in uniting Western civilization is covered. 24 pages of photographs and maps are included. "Connoisseurs of Austria and its delightful and infuriating inhabitants will agree that Mr. Brook-Shepherd has got it just about right.'—The Wall Street Journal "Engrossing, elegantly written history.'—Publishers Weekly
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Content doesn't match titleComment: 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 OdysseyComment: 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 workComment: 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 availComment: 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 TITLEComment: 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.
