The Habsburg Monarchy C.1765-1918: From Enlightenment to Eclipse

By Robin Okey

Book Overview

The multi-national Habsburg empire has never lost its fascination since its fall in 1918. Robin Okey's book shows how the Habsburg peoples experienced the same social, economic and political processes as most other Europeans, in ways that cast interesting light on these processes from both the European and the Habsburg angle. Opposing views that the national problem was therefore subordinate to underlying socio-economic backwardness, Okey argues for the inextricable entanglement of the two themes, as nationalism emerged from a process of social mobilisation which threatened the position of dominant Austro-Germans and Magyars. Robin Okey brings a distinctive approach to an intriguing subject, in a comprehensive study based on wide reading in most of the Monarchy's languages.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0333396545
• ISBN13: 9780333396544
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Exceptional

Clearly written, broad in its scope, and very, very in depth. Not a light read but an enlightening one for sure.

Complex and misunderstood, like the Monarchy itself

Not for the lighthearted or amateur. A sweeping look at the Hapsburg Monarchy from the period of Joseph II to its sad demise in 1918. Okey updates the Hapsburg empire through the lens of late 20th/early 21st century historical questions (brought about by the receding of Cold War language vis-a-vis central and eastern Europe) by deftly analyzing looks at the weaknesses and vitality of the empire in its political, socio-economic and cultural fields. This best is best reserved for "professionals," those with deep knowledge of Hapsburg history, as its depth and historiographical references may leave the casual reader confused. This book is not a meta-narrative but an in-depth analysis of what was and what could have been.