Recommended reading on Austria-Hungary

[Marcus]

The idea of this sticky is to collect recommendations on good books dealing with Austria-Hungary.

Please post the title, author and a short (or long) explanation as to why you feel that particular title deserves to be included.

/Marcus



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[pikeshot1600]

My beginning list:

An old standard: A.J.P. Taylor, The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809-1918. (1948) Good for the Ausgleich in 1867 and subsequent politics.

C. Ingrao, The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815. (1994/2000) Valuable survey & background.

F. Bridge, The Habsburg Monarchy Among the Great Powers, 1815-1918. (1990) Foreign affairs

G. Rothenburg, The Army of Francis Joseph. (1976/1998)

I have seen a couple of newer works, but who has time to read anymore?

[pikeshot1600]

From the writers of "popular" history, I also like:

C. Schorske, Fin de Siecle Vienna. Social/ political and artistic affairs in the "big city."

R. Asprey, The Panther's Feast. Interesting for the Austrian general staff and counter intelligence pre-1914.

F. Morton, A Nervous Splendor. Archduke Rudolf, Maria Vetsera, the Emperor, family politics and also Austro-Hungarian politics.

[Austriacante]

-Istvàn Deàk, Beyond Nationalism. A Social History of the Habsburg Officer Corps. Really interesting.

-Holger H. Herwig, The First World War. Germany and Austria-Hungary. I have mixed feelings on this book. The author knows undoubtedly a great deal on the subject but his work is strongly biased toward Austria-Hungary. In my opinion he didn't grasp the reality of the A-H policy in wartime.

-Norman Stone, The Eastern Front 1914-1917. The story of the epic struggle between Czarist Russia and the Central Powers. The book is good but it's somewhat outdated and very short (less than 360 pages).

-John R. Schindler, Isonzo. The forgotten sacrifice of the Great War. The only overall narrative of a nearly-forgotten but essential Front. Schindler is right when talking of the Austrians, but his knowledge of the Italian army is not as good as it should be. For a more balanced view see:

-G. Pieropan, Storia della Grande Guerra sul Fronte Italiano, unluckily only in the Italian language. Probably the best one-volume history of the Italian front.

-Lawrence Sondhaus, Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf. Architect of the Apocalypse Biography of the Austrian leader.

-Lawrence Sondhaus, The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, good

-Paul G. Halpern, The Battle of Otranto Straits. well-done. The author is a great expert of WW1 navies. I'm searching his book Anton Haus. österreichs-ungarns Großadmiral

[Sewer King]

(mistaken post moved to Austro-Hungarian Militaria section)

[dragoner]

Twilight of the Habsburgs. It has some inaccuracies and some of the usual prejudices, however, overall it is a decent book.

http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Habsburg ... 0871136651

[Inquisitr861]

"The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867-1918" by John W Mason is quite good for the civic/political aspects

[melbar16]

"The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867-1918" by John W Mason is quite good for the civic/political aspects

Is this a book worth getting do you think? I was considering buying it, it would be one of my first books about the empire though. Wasn't sure if it would be a good starting point you see...

Regards

DG

[Inquisitr861]

It probably is worth getting if you want a really in-depth look at the political aspects, but I have to say I don't think it makes a very good starting point. I would say that if you can get a copy it's worth getting for once you've got a good grasp of the ways of the Empire.

Also, whilst they aren't history books, John Biggins' series of novels, "A sailor of Austria","The Two-Headed Eagle" and "The Emperors Coloured Coat" are actually pretty good for stuff about Austria-Hungary. Similarly Joseph Roth's "The Radetzky March" is pretty good.

[PeterDor]

any recommendations out there regarding books covering the k.u.k. army from a soldier's perspective, particularly the italian front?
i note the already-referenced schindler's "Isonzo. The forgotten sacrifice of the Great War" and pieropan's "Storia della Grande Guerra sul Fronte Italiano". perhaps there is something else out there ... particularly interested in reading about what it was like to be a soldier in the k.u.k. army in ww1, not so much about the campaigns, strategy, etc. books with lots of photographs are of particular interest as well ...

[stg 44]

Any recommended reading from the perspective of the average soldier on the Eastern Front?

[Sid Guttridge]

I have a more favourable view than Austriacante about Herwig's The First World War, Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918.

The book fits Austria-Hungary's war effort into the wider context of the Central Powers and I would recommend it above any others as a good starting point for any deeper research into Austria-Hungary's military efforts.

(Remarkably, given that Auastria-Hungary no longer existed) an extensive series of official histories of the A-H campaigns in WWI were published between the wars and Herwig's book uses these extensively.

[mikedash]

From the naval point of view, Lawrence Sondhaus is also the author of a study of the early C19th Austro-Hungarian navy (from the acquisition of the Venetian navy up to Lissa) which is vastly more detailed than any other study on the subject, certainly in English: The Habsburg Empire and the Sea: Austrian Naval Policy, 1797-1866. Purdue University Press, 1989. It predates and is a companion volume to The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867-1918.

[a-h]

For those who can read in Russian, my book: http://ah.milua.org/imperial-and-royal- ... -coat-1914

[Orwell1984]

Just released.
http://www.amazon.com/AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN- ... =8-1-spell