Customer Reviews

The Austrians: A Thousand-Year Odyssey

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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.

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.

The title is somewhat misleading. Perhaps the first third of the book covers the period up to the turn of the century. The rest of the book covers the past 100 years. The author dwells on his own contacts (such as with the last Empress of Austro-Hungary), and while they are, of course, valid and lends credibility and interest, he does tend to dwell on some of the convolutions of failed plots and uprisings that never happened. It is a good explanation of the Austrian "character", but I wish he had gone into more detail of the preceding history, instead of dwelling on the WWII era.

This is a nice comprehensive overview of Austrian history and the question of what, exactly, is an Austrian identity. While I was familiar with the outlines of Austrian and Hapsburg history, it has always been through the lens of other countries or events, England, Russia, Napoleon, etc. Given the author's commentary on the elusive nature of "Austria," this is perhaps more appropriate than I imagined.

I had the pleasure of spending time in the Voralberg a year ago at Christmas and it peaked my interest in this interesting and beautiful part of Europe. Given the intersections of EU expansion into Eastern Europe and proximity to the Balkans, it a good subject to know a bit about. I would like to find a similar book about Hungary, to round out my knowledge.

One small issue -- this is a telescoped history. 100 pages on the first 800 years, 100 more on the next century, and 300 on the last 100 years. Nonetheless if you are looking for a good, non-academic history of the region, this is as good as you will find.

This is one of a number of books we purchased in preparation for a month-long journey to Austria (in the course of which we spent a delightful week with our exchange-student daughter's host family near Graz). Austria has played a central role in much of European history, and this book provides indispensable insights into the background of this fascinating nation. One can't begin to understand Austria today without some knowledge of its complex past. This book is indispensable for those who would really seek to experience Austria. We don't pretend to a lofty level of geopolitical wisdom, but this book helped lift us out of our American insularism. Our Austrian hosts were fascinated by it, and wanted their own copy.

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

A fascinating book. As an Austrian, I very much enjoyed reading this book, as I am not used to encountering history books on my own country in English. Although it was rather biased (Gordon Brook-Shepherd, the author, vehemently insisted that Austrians have no sense of national identity, something which quite a few people would object to), it was well argued, and a fascinating read into the much-unknown world of the Austrians, formerly an important nation until the First World War came along, flattened their massive empire, and left them to wallow in their own nostalgia and self-pity, having to put up being a second-rate nation after having experienced Imperial glory under the Habsburg emperors. Gordon Brook-Shepherd puts forward a balanced account of the Nazi years, delicately addressing the status of the Austrian nation at the time. Brook-Shepherd, I believe, accurately depicts the Austrians, as idyllic, ever cheerful people who are more concerned with their wine, food, and merry-making, than what goes on around them. Definitely a thumbs-up!

One of the most comprehensive books on the intricate history covering the last 1,000 years of Austria. Short and to the point. Objective and not entering into speculative analysis of the "What If..? so often encountered in history books. I sincerely recomend it. Archduk Philipp of Austria

I have read the author's book about the Last Hapsburg, and found it very interesting, especially as it relates to the Emperor Karl. The Austrians is his last book, and it is comprehensive in its depth. I didn't know that the author was such a knowledgeable person about Austria, but he really is. He was part of the Allied Occupation of the country, and he knew all the major politicians along with the Empress Zita and Otto Hapsburg.

This is an in depth look at the history of Austria including the Holy Roman Empire, the Hapsburg Empire and the First and Second Austrian Republics. I think the writing is superb. Shepherd really knows Austria and his final book shows this. This is a nice read.

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.