On the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy

This is a strange, but useful book. At first glance, it looks like something you’d put on your coffeetable for visitors to thumb through. The pages are printed on glossy paper normally reserved for textbooks and works of art history, they’re large, and they have a lot of photos. However, upon reading this book, it functions more as an “anatomy” of the Habsburg Empire, with chapters dedicated to the “body” of the empire (i.e. imperial dynamics, politics, nationalities, etc.), the “soul” of the empire (art, culture, etc.), religion, and other subjects. Moreover, the authors give a great deal more attention to Hungary and non-German territories than usual.

Although this book is not particularly academic or rigorous, it is a great little piece for understanding primarily internal dynamics at play in the great (and long-lasting) Habsburg Empire.