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Danubia: A Personal History Of Habsburg Europe (2014)

by Simon Winder(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0374175292 (ISBN13: 9780374175290)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

review 1: I *loved* the first half of this; the second half was pretty good, but got rather more bogged down (the seemingly endless composer talk comes to mind). But on the whole, yes, totally fascinating. I was particularly engrossed by the history of the Ottoman rivalry and wars and the huge effect that had on Central Europe, which is something I hadn't really come across before. Also thought-provoking was the theme of how we look at European history in general as happening in places that look the same as today (not true; the landscape has been heavily changed by modifications in agriculture, or again with the Ottomans, continually depopulated and repopulated) and to people who define themselves similarly (also not true; prior to the rise of nationalism there were basically lots o... moref groups moving around and intermixing and making a big tangled mess.)
review 2: Not only am I jealous of the author for writing such a good account of a fascinating topic, I'm even more envious of the enjoyment he obviously derived from the research process. Some of the places I am already familiar with, and now, when I get the chance to revisit them or find myself in any of those I have not yet had the opportunity to see, it will be with a new sense of pleasure, wonder and curiosity thanks to this marvellous book, less

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