Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe (Hardcover)
A charmingly personal history of Hapsburg Europe, as lively as it is informative, by the author of "Germania"
For centuries much of Europe and the Holy Roman Empire was in the royal hands of the very peculiar Habsburg family. An unstable mixture of wizards, obsessives, melancholics, bores, musicians and warriors, they saw off--through luck, guile and sheer mulishness--any number of rivals, until finally packing up in 1918. From their principal lairs along the Danube they ruled most of Central Europe and Germany and interfered everywhere--indeed the history of Europe hardly makes sense without the House of Hapsburg.
Danubia, "Simon Winder's hilarious new book, plunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, royalty, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Full of music, piracy, religion and fighting, it is the history of a strange dynasty, and the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna. Readers who discovered Simon Winder's storytelling genius and infectious curiosity in" Germania" will be delighted by the eccentric and fascinating tale of the Habsburgs and their world.
About the Author
Simon Winder is the editor of several anthologies, including the highly praised "Night Thoughts," He works in publishing and lives in London.
Longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013 Praise for Danubia
“[Winder] never stops talking and rarely pauses for breath. Even then, however, you want to tell him: Forget about breathing and just go on talking. Danubia is a long book, yet this reader would not mind if it were longer still.” —Andrew Wheatcroft, The New York Times Book Review
“In a rollicking book that is part travelogue and part history, Winder takes up the unwieldy topic of the Habsburgs. The sprawling family empire ruled much of Europe for more than centuries, owing to a combination of 'cunning, dimness, luck, and brilliance.' From the Middle Ages until the end of the First World War, Winder writes, 'there was hardly a twist in Europe’s history to which they did not contribute.' Winder, whose best-seller Germania took a similar approach to German history, explores the story of the dynasty and the lasting imprint of its reign by travelling the expanse of its former empire and giving a lively account of his research. He is thorough and funny, and the book is rich with anecdotes and enthusiastic appreciation, and it includes a broad survey of the artifacts and landscapes that tell the story of the family that laid the foundation of modern Europe.” —Andrea Denhoed, Page-Turner, The New Yorker online
“Making five centuries of Habsburg history fun seems like a tall order, but Winder pulls it off. He entertains because he is entertained . . . With unrelenting wit—sometimes smirking but also self-mocking—he traces the Habsburgs’ fortunes . . . What gives the text verve is Winder’s ability to interweave the eccentric details of the Habsburgs themselves with an absorbing cultural history, driven by his exuberant passion for the lives and music of great composers and textured by his skillful physical descriptions of forgotten corners of the realm.” —Foreign Affairs
"With hearty dollops of humor in a unique blend of travel writing, historiography and speculation, Simon Winder remains clear-eyed and witty . . . Danubia is thick with scoundrels, dullards, the occasional wizard—and great art, architecture and musicians from Haydn to Mr. Winder's spiritual doppelganger, the mysterious Romanian Bela Bartok." —Carlo Wolff, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“As with his previous work Germania, Winder describes this account as a ‘personal history’, allowing him space for whimsy, for a great deal of Haydn, for careful analysis of paintings and the freedom to favour certain emperors because they were interesting people rather than political heavyweights. It all makes for an excellent, rich and amusing read.” —Roger Boyes, The Times (UK)
"Winder's amalgam of travelogue and personal history follows on from his bestselling account of Germany, Germania, and is similarly infectious in its enthusiasms. In pages of cheerful, slang-dotted prose, Danubia dilates knowledgeably on the Habsburg dynasty as it flourished along the river from its source in Bavarian hills through Austro-Hungary and the Balkans to the Black Sea . . . Danubia is a hoot and well worth reading." —Ian Thomson, The Independent (UK)
"[Winder] is an extremely interesting fellow and a very good writer . . . the journey is so interesting, exciting and very often laugh-out-loud hilarious . . . [a] glorious romp of a book." —Rosemary Michaud, Charleston Post and Courier
“[Winder’s] personalized, almost you-are-there view of history results in an arresting combination of anecdote and scholarly examination, where the interests of serious armchair travelers and devoted students of European history meet.” —Brad Hooper, Booklist
Praise for Simon Winder
“Winder is an entertaining writer, and an erudite one.” —Ian Brunskill, The Wall Street Journal