I was really disappointed by this book. As a history-reader, the Habsburg monarchy during the era covered by this title has always been one of my particular interests. As Robin Okey himself notes in his Foreword, general surveys of Austro-Hungarian history are rare -- particularly in English. I picked this volume up with great anticipation.

Unfortunately, I set it down again fairly quickly, and found it hard to resume reading. I wouldn't have thought he could do it, but Okey made me reluctant to read about one of my greatest and longest-standing historical interests.

The problem isn't that the book is poorly researched, badly written or tendentious in argument. On the contrary, it's so incredibly well researched that I had to wonder for whom it was written. For page after page, Okey goes really, really in depth on agricultural production statistics, analyses of economic growth, ethnological comparisons of literary and linguistic developments, political tensions between various nations and regions in the empire, the relative states of national aristocracies ... and much, much more. I now understand, better than ever before, what that old saw about 'the forest for the trees' means. Several times, I found myself so deeply mired in statistics that I forgot what decade Okey was talking about, let alone what point he was trying to make. The second half of the book was somewhat better than the first in this regard, but it was still tough reading at times.

In all, I am afraid this book may be way too much information for an amateur/generalist like me. At the same time, comprehensive as it is, it may not be enough for the specialists researching a specific, narrowly focused, topic. All of which makes me wonder, as I said, for whom it was written.

In that Foreword, Okey writes, 'It is hoped that there will be a place, therefore, for a survey of the Monarchy from the later eighteenth century that takes account of advances in Habsburg studies since the publication of C.A. Macartney's magisterial "The Habsburg Empire" in 1968.' After hacking through this dense book, I have to say that there is *still* a place for such a book -- at least where the amateur historian and general reader are concerned

Perhaps I have become spoiled by eminent historians such as Simon Schama, Martin Gilbert, William Manchester, Stephen Ambrose or Ian Kershaw, but I confess to not being able to digest this turgid piece of work. The author is so bogged down in a morass of detail that he looses any sense of the sweep of history. Names of people and places pop up like ducks in a shooting gallery, and promptly disappear without our having understoood why they were referred to in the first place. The subject is admittedly difficult, but the author is clearly not up to the task of sorting it out for us.

If there is anything a person could have ever wanted to know about the Austro-Hungarian Empire that is not at least touched upon in this tome - I can't imagine what it could be. If you like to do timelines as you read a history book, leave at least five lines per year (better eight!). The level of detail is truly incredible. Robin Okey's approach is to offer fact after fact, event after event, and date after date. ---- Curiously enough, implications almost imperceptibly seep from this jungle of detail - and they are as contemporary as tomorrow morning's news show. The Habsburg Empire was a multi-national empire that failed, and in a world of multi-national states still trying to cope with nationality or tribal problems, this book has a lot to teach (or more correctly, the development and fall of the Empire carried its lessons, for all to learn from). ---- The last seven pages, "Assessment" brilliantly sum up Okey's insights; you might even want to read it BEFORE starting the book... ---- Unfortunately, one of my biggest complaints about otherwise excellent history books mars this one too: pathetic maps. This book has a grand total of two small black-and-white maps of indifferent quality; it needs dozens! Although engravings and photos would have been nice (and are totally absent), the map failure is more than a minor inconvenience. ---- On the other hand, though the notes are a bit sketchy, the index is excellent, and the bibliography is truly awesome. Indeed, the depth and breadth of this book are revealed most clearly in its astoundingly substantial bibliography! ---- Though Okey's writing style is sometimes obscure, more frequently it is overwhelming in its detail. A sample, taken at random: (pg. 199): "The recurrent liberal image of clerical darkness versus contemporary light encouraged the new regime to ambitious plans for education. The May 1868 school law made eight years of primary education compulsory. Regulation of 1872 approved the old 1848 demand for academic freedom in the universities. New universities were founded in Zagreb in 1874 and Czernowitz, capital of the Bukovina, in 1875." ---- Lastly, be advised that Okey's work is not just a political history. It is a history of ideologies (liberalism, autocracy, socialism, and nationalism, just to name a few). It is also an economic history. And it is assuredly a social history. This book, in short, is complete - so bring an appetite for facts to your dinner or prepare to leave the table with massive indigestion!

I was surprised by the sharp diversity of opinion regarding this work. I'd have to side with those who found this book dull and unreadable. One of the positive reviews called the book "entertaining". That is one word I would NOT use to describe Deak's writing. Certainly, the subject matter is interesting and a capable writer and thoughtful historian could write a stunning and exciting treatment. This is not it. This book was written before Deak became an apologist for Pope Pius in the recent controversy over his role in the Holocaust (see _Hitler's Pope_). Undoubtedly, the notoriety will bring people to his earlier works such as this one, but they will find no fire here.

This is an interesting book on the Habsburg officer corps and its role within the Austro-Hungarian Army, state politics and the social structure of the empire. However, Mr. Deak bombards the reader with statistics and charts, while intersting and helpful, are not effectively worked into the study and would be difficult for anyone not already familiar with the subject to digest. Subsequently, the books effectiveness is seriously curtailed. Some conclusions are debatable and some also seem to be a matter of personal opinion. If nothing else, this book gives a good sense of the basic structure of the Habsburg Officer corps.

This excellent study by one of this country's leading historians of East Central Europe provides a key to understanding the fascinating and complex multi-national Habsburg monarchy through a close look at one of the very few institutions that held this sprawling empire together -- its army officer corps. Deak's social and political analysis of this group is as entertaining as it is insightful, and demonstrates a interpretative approach that could prove fruitful for historians of other countries as well. The book is certainly of interest to military historians, but its real audience is much, much broader than that.

From an architectural standpoint, Budapest is one of the world's most beautiful cities, and the fall of Communism has forced the city to endure a painful transition to a free-market economy. For most of the population, it has not been an easy ride. Bodnar, herself Hungarian, discusses such topics as the privatization of state-owned housing and the resulting inequities. She describes the uneven way in which the private sector has renovated historic buildings. Another chapter is devoted to Moscow Square, which mirrors the fall of Communism as it fills up with beggars, illegal immigrants, and pedlars. Shopping malls, gated communities in the suburbs, and the privatization of movie theaters are other topics that also receive detailed attention.

I'm reluctant to criticize a book like this where the author has put her heart and soul into a topic that is dear to her. But be forewarned that this is a scholarly, academic study, including the application of statistical regression, that is unlikely to appeal to most readers.

Ninety per cent of the material in this book is lifted from works by the likes of A J P Taylor, and any serious historian would be well advised to buy a book by a better historian than Tim Chapman.

This book has only about eighty pages of actual text. It was written under Communist rule and reflects a Marxist view of history. Unfortunately for most scholars it was written for Hungarians who already have considerable knowledge of their own history and geography. The style is that of a dissertation rather than a history book. So much opposing evidence is presented with only the author's opinion to base judgement on. But the biggest problem is that the translator was not an English speaker. Long, circuitous (or as this writer would say, "circumstantial") sentences often end up with no grammatical sense. Lacking words he sometimes makes them up, e.g. "planful." I struggled all the way through and found two or three pieces of information pertinent to my research, but on the whole I was very disappointed.