Scan barcode
james2529's review against another edition
1.0
Awful, gave up after 100 pages (my absolute upper limit when I detest what I am reading).
I have read dozens upon dozens of history books and this is right at the bottom of the lot.
It jumps around chronologically so it is almost impossible to follow the chain of events. It focuses in minute detail on the regalia, legend and mythmaking, pomp and ceremony surrounding the Habsburgs. This makes the book incredibly detail rich but also completely unable to convey infromation effectively because it is out of chronological order and gives little regard to the surrounding political and economic situation surrounding the lives of the main characters.
For the most part, significant historical events are a mere side note.
Absolute garbage, avoid.
I have read dozens upon dozens of history books and this is right at the bottom of the lot.
It jumps around chronologically so it is almost impossible to follow the chain of events. It focuses in minute detail on the regalia, legend and mythmaking, pomp and ceremony surrounding the Habsburgs. This makes the book incredibly detail rich but also completely unable to convey infromation effectively because it is out of chronological order and gives little regard to the surrounding political and economic situation surrounding the lives of the main characters.
For the most part, significant historical events are a mere side note.
Absolute garbage, avoid.
binstonbirchill's review against another edition
4.0
This history of the Habsburgs focuses on the line of succession and how the family used marriage and images rather than conquest (for the most part) to further their empire. I would have given it 5 stars if it had contained a bit more about the territorial gains & losses of the empire and had disclosed more information about societal changes that they brought about in each era but other than that it was very detailed and interesting. This is not written to be an introduction to the Habsburgs, although was for me except for the thirty year war era. I would suggest having a basic knowledge the history of the Habsburgs or being an avid reader before picking this up.
firerosearien's review against another edition
5.0
Surprisingly readable, finished in a little over two days. Glosses over some of the more important historical events but gives excellent portraits of the most important Habsburgs.
katymvt's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book and well written, but I kept getting confused as to who was who.
julis's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I requested for Xmas books about Europe outside of the UK and this sure qualifies, largely because at some point in the last 900 years the Habsburgs have wandered through every inch of it except (and only arguably) France and (even more arguably) the Balkans.
The single biggest problem with this book is it is too short. I think that Wheatcroft was trying to avoid covering things he felt sufficiently covered in other books, but I haven’t read those other books so I was left trying to pick up the pieces as Habsburgs revolved in and out of the focus. Also, as part of trying to draw parallels across the Habsburg family tree, the timeline can sometimes jump around, which is very irritating (and not helped by certain people deciding to be Franz Joseph I even though there haven’t been any others).
HOWEVER he kicks off in the 1100s and ends with Otto, which is pretty cool when most Habsburg histories prefer to talk about 1520-1815 and then tangentially acknowledge 1914. Also he remembers that the Habsburgs were very, very bad to their Jewish subjects and that actually the whole of Europe was pretty damn bad, and frankly my bar for “remembering that Jews historically exist” is in the ground but he cleared it by several feet. So that’s cool.
More...