Customer Reviews

A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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!!!

I was a History major in college. Though fascinated by the subject matter, I kept thinking that this was a complex topic made more difficult than need be. It makes one pine for the likes of B.Tuchmann or W. Bruce Lincoln or L.S. Stavrianos. If I can find a more readable work, I will buy it........otherwise, back to the slog!

I enjoyed reading the book. It gave me a good feeling for continental diplomatic history, a subject many americans dont know having focussed on the american revolution. I found it to be scholastically refined. It can be considered a good source for the origins and causes of WWI (and consequently the current yugoslav question). Criticisms might include a Hegelian like grammatical structure, as well as a lack of introduction to terms; there is no front porch on this book. There are also a number of misprints.

a bit too , highly detailed , for someone with prior knowledge of the subject , with lots reading time. will read some day when I have lots of time .

There is a reason why this book is out-of-print. It's as dry a book as I've ever read and is much more a critique on the Hapsburg Empire and less of a historical overview. The title implies that Kann will introduce the reader to the Central Europeon Power and detail much of the family's power over Europe but that's far from the case. Instead, Kann goes so in depth to pick apart the Hapsburg's, that impossible to keep track of where he's going. Although the chapters have a chronological order to them, Kann mentions events that happened during a five-hundred year span in the first three chapters and aimlessly wanders so much through the text, he should be arrested for reckless writing. Some writers can pull off writing like this and make it into a masterpiece (Son of the Morning Star by Evan S. Connell comes to mind), Kann simply makes it into a field of landmines in which the reader unexpectedly will step onto a trap and utter "Whaaat?" and have to skip back to try and figure out if Kann has a connection to the previous paragrapgh or if he's just writing instantaneous thoughts. Kann's rambling book reminds me of Paul Thomas Anderson movies - it's made purely to pleasure the writer while the rest of the world has its hands in the air wondering "What did I just read/ watch?"

I am a history major at Indiana State University. In my spring term, I used the book (as one of my sources) for my research paper on the Great Siege of Malta of 1565. I will agree that this particular book is not the greatest reading in the world, but generally historians write books for historians. Also, I will agree with other reviewers that the book's title is misleading because it does not focus on the 16th century compared to others. The book was used in my research to help explain the rivilary between Charles V of Spain (the Holy Roman Emperor) and Francis I (King of France). The cause of the rivals were not because of the grudge with Charles V winning the election for the Holy Roman Emperor or Francis I imprisonment in 1525, but Francis saw the danger of the Habsburg Empire surrounding France.

I will recommend this book for people needing information on the Habsburgs for research and to get it at your library or buy an used copy.

Thorough treatment of a fairly arcane historical subject, this book shows it's age big time. This is your father's (or grandfather's) history- names, dates and little context to wash it all down with. Kahn skirts issues like anti-semitism that were to have a profound impact on the rest of Europe after the time of this book, and he doesn't even attempt to explain why the period of disintegration of the empire led to a corresponding rise in Austrian culture. Not worth the time it took to read.

This text is not a good history text. Any good text book will make the subject come alive, this book kills it. It is, however, extremely informative, if you can get through the introduction without dieing. NOT recommended for anyone who is not a post grad! (and even then, only if required for a class).