"An impressive achievement in a task of extraordinary difficulty...The outstanding asset of this work does not consist in in its comprehensiveness and objectivity, however, nor even in the wide knowledge and special expertise Kann can bring to bear from his early legal training, his formidable scholarship on the nationalities question, and his keen critical appreciation of the diverse cultures of the monarchy. Its greatest merit derives from the author's determination always to ask fundamental questions, his care to discriminate between surface phenomena and deeper causes, his skill in finding significant patterns in an apparently chaotic welter of events, his facility for perceptive and penetrating distinctions and generalizations. In short, he tried with considerable success to tell what really happened in history rather than simply what obviously happened."--Canadian Historical Review
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"Goes beyond the traditional Vienna-centered narrative of the fortunes of the Habsburg family and gives us a history of the numerous people who lived under the scepter of this historical ruling house. . . . Will serve as a basic history and reference book for years to come."--"American Historical Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent General History of the Habsburgs,
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918 (Paperback)
Robert Kann was a Viennese Professor of History who taught at several American universities during his career. He was a recognized authority in his field, and this volume is one of the very best general histories of the Habsburg Monarchy currently in print. However, it was written in Professor Kann's second language, English; so the reading is choppy at times. In addition, the subject matter is extremely complex; so if you are expecting a page-turner, this may not be for you. Overall, if you want to know about the last 400 years of the Habsburgs, there are few better sources.
20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This book is mainly about the period after 1740.,
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918 (Paperback)
The title of the book is quite misleading. About 85 % of the book is on the period after 1740. About half of the book is about Franz-Josef's reign. The author's mainly cared about 'liberal' reform and concentrates on this throughout the entire book. I think that this is why he didn't give much space to the early Habsburgs, because they weren't envolved in liberal reform. The other main problem with the book is that it isn't clearly written. Someone who doesn't know the history of the times will have difficulties following the book. The format of the book is that it discusses the political, social, and cultural histories of each period. This book, which has a similar format to J. J. Freehan's German History 1770-1866, is certainly not on the same caliber.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A great cure for insomnia!,
By A Customer
This review is from: A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918 (Paperback)
A history of the Habsburg Empire is full of interesting stuff, and Professor Kann is very knowledgeable on this subject of Austrian history. However he fails to hold this readers attention for long due to his grammer, and seems to go off in tangents. He seems to dig deep into some subjects while bearly scratching the surface on others. Dryness of the book fades away as he goes to the events leading to World War I. This book also gives insight for those wishing to understand Balken history. Overall a decent book but still leaves the reader unfullfiled and looking or another source. I guess I will have to wait for the "dummies" edition to come out!!!
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First Sentence:
The permanent affiliation of the Habsburg dynasty, the ruling house in the German Alpine hereditary lands, with the lands of the Bohemian and Hungarain-Croatian crowns in 1526-1527 initiates the beginning of the history of these realms as an over-all political entity. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
wartime absolutism, eastern crowns, patrimonial jurisdiction, big estates owners, language orbit, independent political history, hereditary lands, ecclesiastic matters, national nobility, nationality statistics, princely absolutism, administrative partition, triune kingdom, general franchise, estates diets, secret peace negotiations, unfree peasants, imperial manifesto, enlightened conservatives, imperial brother, state chancellor, dual states, male franchise, imperial side, exile organizations Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Maria Theresa, New York, Counter Reformation, Francis Joseph, Austrian History Yearbook, Upper Austria, Die Geschichte Ungarns, Pragmatic Sanction, Lower Austria, White Mountain, Christian Socials, Crownprince Rudolf, German Confederation, Congress of Vienna, Catholic Church, Cisleithanian Austria, Congress Poland, Middle Ages, United States, Heinrich von Srbik, Triple Alliance, Young Czechs, Eugene of Savoy, Frederick William, Great Britain New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The permanent affiliation of the Habsburg dynasty, the ruling house in the German Alpine hereditary lands, with the lands of the Bohemian and Hungarain-Croatian crowns in 1526-1527 initiates the beginning of the history of these realms as an over-all political entity. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
wartime absolutism, eastern crowns, patrimonial jurisdiction, big estates owners, language orbit, independent political history, hereditary lands, ecclesiastic matters, national nobility, nationality statistics, princely absolutism, administrative partition, triune kingdom, general franchise, estates diets, secret peace negotiations, unfree peasants, imperial manifesto, enlightened conservatives, imperial brother, state chancellor, dual states, male franchise, imperial side, exile organizations Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Maria Theresa, New York, Counter Reformation, Francis Joseph, Austrian History Yearbook, Upper Austria, Die Geschichte Ungarns, Pragmatic Sanction, Lower Austria, White Mountain, Christian Socials, Crownprince Rudolf, German Confederation, Congress of Vienna, Catholic Church, Cisleithanian Austria, Congress Poland, Middle Ages, United States, Heinrich von Srbik, Triple Alliance, Young Czechs, Eugene of Savoy, Frederick William, Great Britain New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 41
books:
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42
books
cite this book:
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- From Sadowa to Sarajevo (Foreign Policies of the Great Powers, Volume 6) by F.r. Bridge on 4 pages
- JESUITS AND JACOBINS by Paul P. Bernard on page 185, page 191, and page 571
- History of the Czechs and Slovaks by R. W. Seton-Watson on page 20, page 112, and page 593
- A History of Ukraine by Michael (Mykhailo) Hrushevsky on page 394, page 527, and page 597
- Jewish Nobles and Geniuses in Modern Hungary (East European Monographs) by William O. McCagg on page 453, page 540, and page 590
See all 41 books this book cites
- The Military Revolution and Political Change by Brian Downing on page 151, page 201, and Back Matter
- The Central Powers in the Adriatic, 1914-1918: War in a Narrow Sea by Charles Koburger on page 11, page 80, and Back Matter
- Languages of Community: The Jewish Experience in the Czech Lands by Hillel J. Kieval in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare) by Maureen Healy in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat by Paul Lendvai on page 244, and Back Matter
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