The author has done an immense amount of research on the Austrian Army of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period, most of it archival. Here, within the constraints of the Osprey series, he has written an excellent volume that illustrates, both pictorially and in writing, a subject that is both interesting and vital to the collective understanding of the period.

The Austrian army was full of good troops and units. Generally, it was in the leadership category, especially the senior leadership, that hampered its operations. If led by generals of the caliber of the Archduke Charles, it could and did perform more than adequately, Charles defeating Napoleon in 1809 at Essling, the Emperor's first battlefield loss; if not, it was usually beaten. Interestingly, the Austrian Army's best performance of the period was probably when allied to the French in Russia. It was commanded and led by Prince Schwarzenberg, one of the better Austrian generals, and repeately defeated the Russians in 1812.

Here, though, is a highly detailed, informative volume that I would highly recommend to everyone who is interested in the period.

It should be noted that the author and I generally do not agree on several Napoleonic issues, and have clashed over differing opinions on the author's book on Marengo. This review is not influenced in any way by that difference of opinion.

This volume, however, is everything the other is not. This excellent tome is peppered with first hand accounts of Austrian performance and its bibliography is first rate and extrememly helpful. I would go as far as saying that this volume sets a new standard for the Osprey Warrior Series, and is favorable comparable to the excellent volumes in the series by Rene Chartrand, whom I believe has produced the best Osprey books so far.

This book is informative, interesting, well-written and very well-documented. If you have any interest in the period, it should be in your collection, whether or not the Austrian Army is your area of concern or interest. Without at least a working knowledge of the Austrian Army (properly the Kaiserlich-Konigliche Armee-the Imperial and Royal Army), you may come up short in your reading and understanding. The Archduke Charles was probably the best of the Allied generals, and the Austrians fought the French longer than any other European power, except the English, and provided more troops to the Coalitions.

An autobiography of a woman's survival during the Holocaust of the Second World War. As the owner of a middle class fashion boutique, Alice Dunn lived the good life until the currents of nazism came into her life. Born Jewish, she found that her "friends" became cold towards her as the Holocaust was approaching. Arrested and sent to Auschwitz, Alice survived a brutal weeding out of the weak to find herself a slave of the nazi regime. Sent to work in an industrial plant, she endured starvation as she watched the Germans being well feed. While being transfered, Alice escaped from a train and with much difficult made it to the American lines. In Paris, Alice found herself unable to transition back to the normal life after the war. The nightmares contined even when she moved to New York City. In time she was able to return to the good life she had known before the war. Hers is a powerful story of survival.

If you are interested in history, treasure hunting, diving, or true life adventure stories, you will enjoy this book! Meticulously researched and intertainingly presented.

Wagnleitner does a great job of taking the reader through Western Austria's change from an ex-Nazi state to a miniature US "wannabe." The author also discusses the discrepancy between the percieved American culture and actual American culture. He furthers the discussion by examining the role that cultural imperialism has played in the history of the world. Overall, it was a great look at an issue which remained a hot one in Europe for decades (and still is in France, of course).

Interesting snippets and factoids about all sorts of natural and human phenomena in Australia. Want to know the deepest gorge in each State/Territory? Height of some well-known waterfalls? Longest road ascents? All the answers are here.

Nothing terribly profound, and it is not hard to imaging how much of a crashing dinner-party bore you could become if you start to recite 'interesting snippets. On the other hand, if you are a Quiz night afficianado, or compiler of questions, this is one of the tomes to have at hand! It could also be a useful addition to the primary or high school reference library.

Although you won't find any new and interesting twists in this book about the death of Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera, you will find easy reading that portrays the events at Mayerling in a straight forward, easy to follow account. The author promised to give the true account of how she died, and I was hoping for something new;I think that most people already know that Rudolf killed her and then killed himself. The pictures were excellent, and several of them I had never seen before. If you're new to the Mayerling legend, I highly recommend reading this one first

Buy it for the amazing photographs of the 1956 Uprising/revolution, but disregard nearly all of the author's leftist political analysis. Gadney believes, falsely, that this was a conflict between different shades of Communism. The fact is that the Uprising was an effort to exterminate Communism in Hungary. The Western nations and the UN absolutely betrayed Hungary by letting the freedom fighters be squashed by a retaliatory Soviet invasion. The photographs you'll see in this book are sometimes shocking, but they convey very clearly the state of things in the streets of 1956 Budapest.

I bought this book 25 years ago when it was first published. At the time I had a friend from Budapest who said it met with his approval. The receipe for the poppy-seed & nut rolls produces pastry that is far superior to the same articles offered in delis & gourmet shops.

This is a wonderful book, full of quirky facts and Hungarian cooking history. The author is opinionated in the most delightfully Hungarian way.

Did you know, for example, that just as "the secret of the abundance of good Hungarian string instrumentalists is that they have a well developed "sound sense", it is most probable that Hungarian housewives and cooks are either born with or develop a keen "soup sense"? No?

Or what about this gem: "it wouldn't be too farfetched to say that Hungary specialises in winning international culinary battles and losing revolutions". Hmm. The French and Italians might have a thing or two to say about that.

To use it as a cookbook, you pretty much need to be an experienced cook. How about the soup recipe that begins, "first mince some meat"? Or the one that half way through instructs you to "make a roux" with no further hints?

I've made about 10 recipes from this book. With the exception of simple dumplings, none has taken less than an hour, most upwards of two.

Oh yes, the result is worth it. Yummm. It's just not for the fainthearted.

Buy the book for the history and other reading. For example, a list of actions Hungarian farmers were required to perform each month in 1674.

A sample:
February - Every fifth day you have to give kiln-dried beans to peacocks to make sure that they will lay eggs speedily enough.

March - Put three goose eggs under the stork and when they hatch take them away from the stork. You can catch crabs with frog's legs, and fish with your hands if you smear your feet and legs with a mixture of melted game grease and honey.

April - buy salt for the summer and put carp into the lake.

No explanation for why the eggs go under the stork! And where do you get the carp from?

There are examples of original recipes from an 1826 cookbook (cut out the bone from a piece of good beef...); a New Year's Day menu for a Count in 1603 - consisting of two 18 course meals; and a detailed account of different regions' traditions.

It's wonderful stuff.

last year while studying at the IES Vienna program, I was confronted with the new elections and creation of government in Austria. The man at the center of all this attention was Jorg Haider, then the leader of the of the FPO. Hell Pick's book "Guilty Victim" effectively presents the background to the Austria as a paradox in association to Anschluss and WWII. On one ahnd there is the national lie that Austria was the first victim of the Third Reich. This reinforces Austrian indentity in modern Europe. The other side is that Austria bears responsibility for participating in the actions of the third Reich. Austria suffers the dilemma of reconciling with its guilt from the past, so that it may enter into accord with the other nations of the EU. This book is best sumed by her words qouted "Those who choose to forget history are condemned to live through the same again. Those who do not want to know precisely what took place will never be able to learn the lessons of history... We have a duty to understand the past - and as far as possible, to accept wrong-doing and make amends." Pick's purpose in this book is to reconcile with the actions of the nation that she was born into. This book represents a contemporary approach to modern European history in the hopes that lessons will be learned in rder to prevent disasters and distructions of the past. The EU provides potential in the continent reconciling with their actions during the second world war. I believe this book is best for those interested in contemporary Austrian or modern European history. Austria is no longer a nation confused about its national identity but is confronted by the new dominant force in Europe, the EU. Only time will determine the fate of Austria in a larger Europe.