Though this book is better in the original German (it loses something in the translation), Hamann is a diligent researcher who has unearthed some new facts about Hitler's period in Vienna. She uses primary sources and archive material without merely rehashing what other biographies have written in the past. The Franz Jetzinger book from the 50's is still the standard, definitive version of Hitler's Vienna years, but Hamann does a nice job and weaves in some new material. She also adroitly dismisses some claims from other German authors who have inaccurately written about Hitler's relationship with early roommate, August (Gustl) Kubizek. Thankfully, Hamann doesn't indulge in psychoanalyzing Hitler, which is sort of a deranged cottage industry amongst more recent Hitler biographers.

One small criticism is that Hamann veers away from Hitler too frequently. There is a plethora of material about Vienna's political climate in the 1910's, its mayor, the origin of anti-Semitism in the city and other ancillary details. Though all of this is relevant to Hitler, one wishes she would have stayed a bit more on topic. Still, the book is interesting, informative and devoid of errors. If you want to learn more about the young Hitler, this is an acceptable choice.

I thought I knew a lot about Adolf Hitler's life, even his youth, until I stumbled upon this book. Hitler's Vienna provides a fascinating glimpse into the social, economic, and political milieu in which young Hitler found himself immersed when he came from the provinces to the capital of the crumbling Austro-Hungarian empire in order to pursue his dream of a career in art or architecture.
The book is really less about Hitler himself than about the forces which helped to shape his weltanschauung. Though he reportedly not an anti-Semite as a youth, it was in Vienna that Hitler learned the language of anti-semitism and nationalism.
As I engrossed myself in the book, my thoughts often wandered to comparing the identity politics and quota demands of Austro-Hungarian politicians with the increasing ethnic balkanization here in the United States and wondered whether such a man as Hitler could not one day spring from our political landscape.
One of the chief things I learned is that political and ethnic anti-Semitism was already a very potent force among both the more radical German-nationalist followers of Georg Schoenerer as well as among the more mainstream supporters of the enormously popular mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger. There was also a large groundswell of anti-Czech sentiment due to a heavy flow of Czechs into Vienna and to the mistreatment by Czechs of Germans in Sudetenland, a situation that Hitler was later to temporarily rectify.
The most surprising fact about Hitler brought to light is that he had many Jewish friends during his Vienna days. And I had to laugh at the part where he was described by a former fellow boarder at the men's hostel as having arrived wearing shoulder-length hair and wearing nothing but a coat because he didn't have a shirt.
Though the book adds much to what we knew of Hitler, it comes no closer than any other of really getting inside his head to explain his true motivations. After all, hundreds of thousands of Europeans hated Jews and lived through the same hardships that young Hitler did, but only Hitler took that extra step and made the end of Jewry his life's work. Nevertheless, this book is a very valuable study and is an easy and fascinating read that comes highly recommended to all those who yearn to know more about the life and times of Adolf Hitler.

Another Hitler book? Aren't there enough already? That's what I thought, til I read this. This is a fascinating story about the Vienna in which Hitler created his vision and plans. This is the Vienna of Adler and Freud, of coffee houses and intellectual debate. But did the young Hitler live in this mileiu from 1908 - 1913? Or was he relegated to Vienna's lower class and working class neighborhoods. What was life like there among the poor, single men? Were there any Jewish professors at the Visual Arts school he attended? (no) With the newly won right to vote, what kind of pan-German politicians caught the attention of the poor masses and of a young Hitler? What books and newspapers would he have read? How did Vienna's architecture influence Hitler's ideas symbolic art? How did Georg Schonerer affect Hitler's later ideas? Is this where he learned about anti-Semitism? A fascinating read that just draws you in.

Yet another good Royal Diary has been published. Elisabeth: The Princess Bride, centers around Princess Elisabeth of Austria. Her sister is about to be bethrothed to the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph I. Little does she know, Franz decides to pick her over her sister. This book takes you on a whirlwind ride up until the marriage. You'll also learn about Elisabeth's life after marriage, the elegant castles they lived in, and the culture during that time. The only complaint I have is that it is too short!

Fifteen-year-old Princess Elisabeth, called Sisi, is the daughter of Duke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria and his wife, Princess Ludovica. She has had a carefree childhood in the Bavarian countryside. She spends as much of her days as possible horseback riding, her favorite pastime. But everything changes in the summer of 1857. Sisi's older sister, Helene, has been chosen to marry their cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Their mother is taking Helene to meet Franz Joseph, and has decided to take Sisi along in hopes of finding a husband for her as well. But when Franz Joseph meets Helene and Sisi, he decides it is Sisi he wants to marry. Sisi becomes engaged to Franz Joseph, but she is far too young for the responsibilities she suddenly finds herself facing as the future Empress. This is not one of my favorites from the Royal Diaries series, but it was still a very good book that I recommend to fans of the series. I only wish it could have been a little longer, as Elisabeth's diary is only 93 pages.

Elisabeth: Princess Bride joins others in the 'Royal Diaries' set, providing the first-person story of Elisabeth, a princess bride of the Austria-Hungary regime in 1853. The end of her carefree childhood and her unwilling marriage to an emperor for the good of politics comes to life in this diary format, which is based on real events.

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.

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.

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.

Sure, maybe it's a little more accurate, seeing as how McNally allegedly got ahold of actual trial documents to use in his rebuilding of the facts, but one thing is a little out of whack: the book is almost 250 pages long, but only the first 92 are dedicated to the Bathory tale, and only about 50% of that is about Elizabeth. There is more info on the political upheavals going on at the time, and much of it has seemingly nothing to do with Elizabeth. It's sort of a "meanwhile, in another part of the country..." type of digression. The focus is largely on what was going on "around her" instead of what was going on "with" her. As if McNally is saying "look at me, I'm a professor of eastern European history and you're not!"
After page 92, it gets a little...ridiculous. Notice how each chapter afterward begins with a sentence which includes Elizabeth's name in it (just to remind you who the book is supposed to be about and poorly attempt to tie her in to the subject matter), then goes way off course and discusses Werewolves, Necrophilia, and then vampire movies. Apparently she fits into these somehow, but I think it is all in McNally's mind. He just needed to fluff up the book by a couple hundred pages with pointless sensationalism, since the actual part about Elizabeth had none and made her seem rather boring, believe it or not. He actually begins to champion her by book's end, as if he were her hero who will clear her name of these acts.
By the end of the tale, I still did not understand why she did it. There is no explanation or barely even a speculation. It's presented in a "yeah, she just kinda got into it for no apparent reason" fashion. McNally even alludes to the possibility of it all being a conspiracy against the Countess by other aristocrats who wanted to have their debts to her cancelled by having her imprisoned.
McNally says Elizabeth *probably didn't* bathe in blood since no official records tell of that, and that much of the killing was done by her servants. And there is nothing more than a glancing touch on her sexuality, which is a subject that could have helped paint a better picture of her as a person. Of course, with such little documentation available, some topics are going to suffer if there is a lack of speculation on the author's part.
Ultimately I was left thinking, this is it? that's all? Not that what she was accused of wasn't bad, but, if this is closer to the truth, it doesn't come near the drama of the legends. A bit of a let down for those fascinated by the myth.
If the legends were true it would have made for a more interesting psychological evaluation of the Countess, and subsequently a more interesting book.

this book rocked so much. i love this book. yeah i may be morbid, but this was so fascinating. ... i wish there were a lot more books about her just because what she did was fascinating. it was a dark time in history, but to bathe in blood because it supposedly made you look youthful? to have parents that had intermarried? this was riveting and it held me from the very first few pages. the last section about necrophilia was cool, but i kind of wondered what that had to do with her.

McNally did a great job of presenting and backing up all of his facts with historical documents that were uncovered in the early 80s in the archives in Budapest. He discounts all of the false legends regarding Elizabeth, including one that says she showered in young girls blood, bathed in, and drank it to remain youthful. Elizabeth tortured and killed servants merely because she enjoyed the act (similiar to Vlad The Impaler). It recounts the history of her family and her subsequent trial and house arrest, although she should have been executed along with her henchmen. The high body count she incurred sounds like a legend but some evidence did come out in the trial that did substantiate it as fact, im sorry but I wont mention it more than that cos I dont want to spoil it for you. If you want a well written, no-nonsense book about the Blood Countess of Translyvania get this book.

Some of the previous reviewers of this book, both favourable and unfavourable, seem to have misunderstood it's content. This book is written as a Freudian interpretation of early modern cultural history. Written in the early 1960's, a time unfavourable to socialist criticism, this book is a radical non-socialist critique of early liberalism written from a psychoanalytic perspective.
This book is difficult and is not recommended as a general introduction to modern culture. It is written in a sometimes annoyingly pedantic style, and repays close study only from the most serious student of early modern history.

I like this book! It gives me endless ruminations and thought out insights using the work of psychoanalysis to explain and explicate the subject matter- Vienna at the turn of the last century. This fits extremely well considering that psychoanalysis erupted form that very place at that very time. The life of Vienna, in its myriad forms, can be well understood via psychoanalysis - in many ways modern Vienna too is still a psychoanalytic trove - this book needs slow and careful reading; it will need more than one "going-over". Highly recommended - but if you are opposed to psychoanalysis...keep away! Be warned!

Brilliant, profound, complex, challenging - as most serious reading is, this is intellectual and cultural history at its best. A classic, and rightly so. Be prepared to think deeply...

okay i've been trained both in sociology and philosophy and would say the book brings the poorest of both worlds.. never believed in intellectual history in general, but this kind of book, with its judgements about Kierkeggardian or Wittgensteinian 'individualism' as a 'natural pathology' of early twentieth century continental bourgeoise society, does nothing but buttress the self-complacency of our now liberal societies. Therefore despite some 'interesting' anectodes and impressions from Habsburg Vienna, the philosophical depth of the book doesnt go above our usual journalistic wisdom. I dont understand how other reviewers found this book brilliant or anything like that. I think recommendable as passtime only.

This book is an attempt to situate Wittgenstein, particularly the Wittgenstein of the Tractatus, in the context of the larger modern 20th century Viennese cultural milieux. It emphasizes the importance of language and communication, or the lack thereof, in fin-de-siecle Viennese politics and society, and relates the interactions and mutual influences of Viennese cultural critics such as Karl Kraus upon the positive philosophy of Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. It is not intended as an introduction to Wittenstein's thought and should not be read as such. This book is written for students of cultural and/or philosophical history who want a sense of the cultural origins of early modern positivism in philosophy.

From the turn of the century until the Nazi Anschluss Vienna was a city of amazing artistic and intellectual creativity. The psychological theories of Freud and Adler, the final development of "Jugendstil" or "art nouveau" in art and architecture, authors such as Schnitzler, Friedell, Kraus and Altenberg, the philosophic and scientific thinking of the Vienna Circle, the "Kaffeehaus" culture...this was all a part of Wittgenstein's Vienna. Vienna at this time was truly a phenomenon, exceeding any other city (including Berlin and Paris) in its intellectual and cultural ferveur. This book discusses this phenomenon with a view towards its effects on Wittgenstein and his philosophy. It is well-researched and scholarly in style, i.e. no tourist book. For a more biographical approach, "The Duty of Genius" by Ray Monk is also excellent.

As a Hungarian I may tell you this one is not a classic. It's an under-the-average story of an over-estimated writer. If you want to know the Hungarians read the history of Hungary. I think then you'll understand everything about my country. Or come to Hungary and see how we are. You may find us a bit pessimistic but we love to laugh. We are not that sad !!

I love Moricz`s style, and the way he captures the fragility of our existence. A great book.

I don't see how one of the previous reviewers could complain about the main character of this novel being weak and naive...after all he is a small child! This book is one of the finest depictions of of child's coming of age that I have ever read. The book should not be taken as indicative of Hungarian mentality, but it does reflect the tragic tone of the Hungarian society at the time the book was written: just after World War One. The writer projects these feelings back into an autobiographical child's world of 1889. If you can't understand this book, then you must have forgotten what is was like to be a child: confused by the behavior of adults, often scared, and undoubtedly impressed by your own potential to grow. Another good book by this author, translated into English is "Relations", published by Corvina.

Having spent a summer in Budapest as a student, I was particularly interested in its history after my return. This book really fills in many of the details about the city that I never knew when living there. It's full of factiod information on population, language, architecture, etc. The problem with it; however, is that it doesn't effectively integrate these topics and treats them as rather separate phenomena (which of course they aren't). Still, it's the best history of Budapest that I've found and that's commendable.

Lukacs attempts to capture the mental climate of Budapest 1900. This is a kind of impressionistic approach to history that uses scholarship to achieve its effects. He is definitely worth reading.

Reading this book took me on a trip to an age when things were golden. I was able to see places I have been and picture myself in those times. The christian-jewish relationships were a model that can be likened-to today's America. I enjoyed the section about the coffeehouse district and also the author's footnotes. I learned a lot of things I did not know about political sides and issues.

Anyone thinking of buying this book will be pleased with their purchase. I have read "An Undiplomatic Diary", by an american General after WWI. I would like to read about Emperor Karl 1st, the "Peace Emperor". This combination of books bring about a rounded history. I am sure that there are other books to read, but these are pretty good places to start.

The last chapter tied everything together and was very strong.
Bravo! Is there another chapter about the last 14 years or so?

Alan Furst's new novel is, in one word, delicious. Sleek and elegant, it captures pre-World War II Paris and Eastern Europe pitch-perfect, with so much attention to detail and culture that the reader is plunged into the dark alleys and deep forests of Morath's world. The driving plot never misses a beat, and both dialogue and description are clever, true to character (of both the protagonists and of the land), and occasionally very beautiful in a tense, dark, film-noir way.

I didn't exactly warm to Morath -- there was a disappointing lack of character development, as some other reviewers have noted, and in my opinion he never really stepped off the pages into three dimensions (the same for many other characters, except for a few notable members of the supporting cast). It's why I felt this book merited four stars instead of five.

But the real show lies in Furst's masterful evocation of a world; his descriptions lend rich texture and depth to the story, speeding it up, adding to its tension, rather than bogging it down. His language allows us to board the swaying night trains racing from Paris to Budapest, lets us see the sparkle of a Cartier bracelet or the flicker of a Russian nightclub show, takes us into the cool gardens of expatriate Magyar nobility, thrusts us into the heart-pounding panic of a struggle in a Czech forest. From luxury cars to old rum and Imperial medals to the details of chic outfits and romantic pulp novels, the skittish decadence and danger of Morath's existence pervades every page of this thrilling, stylish, extremely enjoyable read.

The book jacket touts Alan Furst as "the master of the atmospheric spy thriller." After reading "Kingdom of Shadows," I'm not sure I would say Furst is the master, but he is very, very good. I was most impressed with the individualism of the secondary characters -- men and women caught up my circumstance in Europe as Hitler amassed territory and power. The impending doom was palpable. The plot seemed credible, not as far-fetched and James Bondish as many spy thrillers. Thought and substance are offered here instead of comic book mentality. So many World War II novels have become cliche, swathed in sentimentality. "Kingdom of Shadows" may not be Furst's best novel, but the plot, characterization and writing held my attention and provoked my emotions.

Nicholas Morath is a minor Hungarian noble living a comfortable, but not quite ostentatious, life in pre WWII Paris. It seems that he has been content with running a small advertising firm and living the cafe life with a young and vivacious Argentian mistress. But this is 1938 and dark clouds are brewing in Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland etc. Morath is called to run various errands for his tight-lipped uncle Polanyi, a true to life Hungarian count. The book chronicles these errands which become ever more dangerous.

The outstanding features of this book are severalfold. The dialogues are crisp, clean and believable. The characters are quirky but nicely sketched. Furst creates a very believable atmosphere of pre-war Europe. Everyone knows that war is coming, yet people still need to live their lives. Thus there is still a cafe society and the titled ex-pats still throw lavish parties. Meanwhile, poorer immigrants running from tyranny barely scratch out a living. Furst delivers his character to many interesting locations that are not prevelant in American fiction. Morath travels through the countryside of Hungary, Roumania and Czechoslavakia meeting up with Poles, Ukranians, Croats. One minute Morath is eating a grand banqet in an elegant eastern European chateau--the next he finds himself chained in a dank Roumanian prison.

Then there are the intrigues that Morath finds himself immersed in upon the bidding of his uncle. Morath never quite knows what the endgame is. Who is pulling the strings. How do his missions fit in the overall scheme. Therefore, the reader is also left guessing. Other reviewers have sited this as a weakness--I, on the other hand, view this as the great strength of the book. There are semi-powerful factions trying to forestall the inevitable and the puppeteers choose not to disclose to Morath how he fits into the larger puzzle. Ultimately, we all know how things turn out here. Nothing Morath and his uncle accomplish is going to save Europe from the calamity of WWII. Yet Morath and the reader are kept on edge trying to figure out what the heck is going on within his smaller universe. There are no tidy answers, because in real life there seldom are tidy little answers. This probably is not a book for someone who likes mystery and intrigue but needs to have the hero figure out all the puzzles and vanquish the badguys with a spine-tingling final flourish. That cannot happen given the historical backdrop to this book, for we all know that no matter what Morath and Uncle Polanyi are able to accomplish--World War II is going to happen: Paris will be occupied, London will be bombed, millions will die. But that does not mean that their effort is wasted or that the book is not extremely worthwhile. For those who are comfortable with unanswered questions and filling is some of the holes themselves, I highly recommend Kingdom of Shadows.

Having had no prior knowledge of Paul Erdos and his work, I purchased this book on a whim. I enjoy biographies of interesting people and he certainly was one. The book is a biography for the most part but also contains much biographical anecdotes of other great mathematicians. I found these anecdotes to be very interesting and a good introduction to this group of interesting people. I find these brief descriptions interesting enough to pursue full biographies of some of these individuals. There is also much discussion of various mathematical principles and theories. While this may seem daunting, they are explained with amazing lucid language that any layperson may grasp even these most difficult mathematical laws. I found the book a great introduction to the world of mathematics and found myself more interested in math than I ever was before. It made me regret not taking calculus in college.

This is one of two excellent biographies published shortly after Paul Erdos' death (the other being "my brain is open" by B.Schechter) This book succeeds on many levels. It is a well written biography about an ideal subject. Erdos traveled in time through the most important events of century, and in space through the countries of four continent. Intellectually, he influenced many areas of pure mathematics: mostly discrete (number theory, combinatorics, Ramsey theory, random graphs) math, but with important excursions in analysis and probability as well. On top of that, he had a truly unique personality and research style. The book is rich in very humorous anecdotes, from which Erdos emerges as a generous, unselfish man with an obsession for beautiful mathematics. However, Hoffman is more interested in depicting the mathematical community at large, and rightly so: this is a relatively small group of people who are usually regarded as eccentic and obscure. After reading the life of Erdos and company most readers will change their opinion, for the better. Finally, this book succeed in giving a flavor of number theory and combinatorics; in this respect it resembles the masterpiece "What is Mathematics?" by Courant and Robbins.It would a fitting tribute to Erdos that some high school students will choose a math major after being inspired by his life.

Being something of a 'lapsed' mathematician (long ago math major, long unused), I'm always interested in books that involve numbers and people who love numbers. I'm usually not fond of biographies, but I'd heard good things about this one and decided to give it a try. To my surprise and joy, it turned out to be more about numbers and math in general, than about those irritating details of a person's life that usually get in the way of a good read. I agree with one of the earlier reviews here that trying to write an entire book devoted just to Paul Erdos would probably have been futile -- his entire life was numbers. This book opens doors for people who aren't familiar with the various theories and offers some 'math surprises' for those of us who were familiar with math in a former life. I'm still puzzling over the tiling result. (Sorry, you'll have to read the book to find out what it was.) Loved it. Highly recommend it. Have so far purchased two copies as gifts and will likely purchase at least two more (I have a lot of math-oriented friends).