The Habsburg Empire

A New History

By: Pieter M. Judson

Narrated by: Michael Page

In a panoramic and pioneering reappraisal, Pieter M. Judson shows why the Habsburg Empire mattered so much, for so long, to millions of Central Europeans.

Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule, as citizens learned to use the empire's administrative machinery to their local advantage. Nationalists developed distinctive ideas about cultural difference in the context of imperial institutions, yet all of them claimed the Habsburg state as their empire.

The empire's creative solutions to governing its many lands and peoples - as well as the intractable problems it could not solve - left an enduring imprint on its successor states in Central Europe. Its lessons remain no less important today.

©2016 The President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[A] subtly argued work of deep scholarship.... A nuanced scholarly reappraisal of a significant European empire." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Very Informative, If a Bit Dry

I did find many positive things with this books. It was extremely thorough in its research and demonstrated new ways of think about and examining the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire from the 18th century through the conclusion of World War I. The writing style is very academic and while it does give very in-depth assessments of numerous Imperial institutions, the overall flow can seem a bit choppy for a more casual reader. You will find a great deal of information, but not much in terms of flourishes that will help the narrative of the empire. I certainly learned a great deal from the book, but it began to drag a bit through the middle.

I will say that I loved the narration. Mr. Page’s delivery is very easy to listen to and it kept me coming back to the book, even when I felt like the material was getting a bit dry.

Social & economic history of the empire from Maria Theresa to its collapse

Those looking for a strictly political history of the Austrian empire will be disappointed. This is a social, cultural and economic history of the Hapsburg Empire from the accession of Maria Theresa to the empire’s downfall in WWI. It works well with that understanding.

Very Detailed and Academic

The author sets out to state his thesis that the failure of the Austrian Empire was not mainly driven by nationalistic forces until very late in it's history. He tends to focus the failure on a combination of reactionary and economic forces. He sets forth that the empire was mainly drug down by the middling income and low wealth of the central state. Since the central state couldn't economically provide the services/infrastructure/support to it's German/Hungarian/Czech/Slovak peoples, those populations had to depend upon their own smaller regional/ethnic groups to provide those modern services. This lead the way for language/culture/region to be the identifying structure that each population within the empire came to identify with. Due to the economic/political weakness of the central state, it was completely unable to cope with the total war economy needed for WW1, which then precipitated it's downfall with the Central Powers defeat in 1918.

The book is a more academic and detailed study that seems to be an extension of a doctoral thesis, if you are looking for details - this is a good book. If you are looking for someone to tell a riveting story, you will be disappointed. Otherwise, I found it interesting and informative, but maybe a tad monotonous at times.

Ideal for students of empires, nationalism, minorities and ethnic groups

This book is an academic book, written in academic language. Terms in vogue with professional historians such as 'agency' appear frequently. It may be somewhat dense for some who are seeking a general overview of the Habsburg Empire, but it is an excellent and thought provoking book for those who are studying or researching in this or related fields. I highly recommend it, especially for those interested in imperialism and nationalism in other parts of the world.

#Multigenerational #VoicesFromTheGrave #Clever #CentralEurope #WorldWarI #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Highly Recommend

This was a refreshing perspective on the Austro-Hungarian empire. This country often gets brushed aside as structurally doomed to failure and thus not worth examining. Having descended from people who left this country not long before it was broken up, I too had fallen victim to assuming it was bound to fail. Judson argues rather persuasively that if it wasn't for World War I and the peace of Versaille, Austro-Hungy had a chance to evolve into a stable empire based upon a federalist system. Fit within the broader context of the rise of nationalism and the failure of the post war peace, this book adds an important background on how this region got to that point.
The only weakness of this book is in the weak development of the rise of the Habsburg Empire. There is light discussion on how the lands were collected and grown under the Habsburgs, more the story of the 18th and 19th century administration of the Habsburgs lands. I think a better fleshing out of how the Habsburgs acquired their various holdings would add an important foundation to the later discussions of the various territories and people groups that made up the empire.