The Red Prince

The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke

By: Timothy Snyder

Narrated by: Michael Damon

From the palaces of the Habsburg Empire to the torture chambers of Stalin's Soviet Union, the extraordinary story of a life suspended between the collapse of the imperial order and the violent emergence of modern Europe.

Wilhelm Von Habsburg wore the uniform of the Austrian officer, the court regalia of a Habsburg archduke, the simple suit of a Parisian exile, the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and, every so often, a dress. He could handle a saber, a pistol, a rudder, or a golf club; he handled women by necessity and men for pleasure. He spoke the Italian of his archduchess mother, the German of his archduke father, the English of his British royal friends, the Polish of the country his father wished to rule, and the Ukrainian of the land Wilhelm wished to rule himself.

In this exhilarating narrative history, prize-winning historian Timothy D. Snyder offers an indelible portrait of an aristocrat whose life personifies the wrenching upheavals of the first half of the 20th century, as the rule of empire gave way to the new politics of nationalism. Coming of age during the First World War, Wilhelm repudiated his family to fight alongside Ukrainian peasants in hopes that he would become their king. When this dream collapsed, he became, by turns, an ally of German imperialists, a notorious French lover, an angry Austrian monarchist, a calm opponent of Hitler, and a British spy against Stalin.

Played out in Europe's glittering capitals and bloody battlefields, in extravagant ski resorts and dank prison cells, The Red Prince captures an extraordinary moment in the history of Europe, in which the old order of the past was giving way to an undefined future - and in which everything, including identity itself, seemed up for grabs.

©2008 Timothy Snyder (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A]n interesting biography of a man whose colorful life embodied many of the tensions that plagued Europe in the early 20th century." ( Publishers Weekly)

Illuminating an obscure corner of 20th C. History

Great narrative covering a little-known corner of 20th Century European History. The narrator, however, is clearly more at home with French pronunciation than with any of the Slavic languages (a problem, given the subject matter). Most distressing was the insertion of a bogus "l" in "Czech(l)oslovakia."

Little known but relevant

The narrator was clear. Timothy Snyder is always thoughtful. I knew a little about Austria-Hungary in the 18th century, but not about the 20th century Hapsburgs. Snyder points out that identities, national and otherwise, are choices. Being free to shape and reshape our own identities is an important component of democracy. The Hapsburgs' choices to identify as broadly European, Austrian, and as members of different specific nationalities within the former empire provides a model for 21st century Europeans resisting race-based nationalism. This is particularly true for Ukraine. I think it's also important for Americans, who are under attack from factions who oppose freedom of identity formation, and wish to impose hierarchies based on characteristics they would assign. Anyone who enjoys this book would also like Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe by Sheri Berman, Floating Coast by Bathsheba Demuth, The Russian Affair by David Walsh, Trotsky in New York by Kenneth Ackerman, and Europe's Last Summer by David Fromkin.

One more piece to the puzzle of understanding a complex world.

You can’t understand World War II without understanding World War I and you can’t understand World War I without knowing something about the Habsburg dynasty

I admire Timothy Snyder

And I eagerly read or listen to anything he writes. However, The Red Prince is not his best work, and the guy who is reading this book is really bad. I couldn’t finish listening to it because the sound of the narrators voice is like that of a really earnest Sunday School teacher reading Bible stories aloud to 3 and 4 year olds.

narrator needs to learn to pronounce city names

good book, author cared too much about good looking men. really interesting view on formation of initial identities