Disclosure : This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe

For centuries much of Europe was in the 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 them. Simon Winder`s extremely funny new book plunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Danubia is full of music, piracy, religion and fighting. It is the history of a dynasty, but it is at least as much about the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in many rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna. Readers who discovered Simon Winder`s genius for telling wonderful stories of middle Europe with Germania will be delighted by the eccentric and fascinating stories of the Habsburgs and their world.Danubia was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2013.

Related Products:

Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe`s Lost Country Germania: A Personal History of Germans Ancient and Modern Lotharingia: A Personal History of France, Germany and the Countries In-Between The Germans and Europe: A Personal Frontline History A History of the World in 21 Women: A Personal Selection Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 Europe: A History The War that Ended Peace: How Europe abandoned peace for the First World War The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe`s History Pakistan – A Personal History The Penguin History of Europe The Inheritance of Rome – History of Europe from 400 to 1000 The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine A Short History of Europe: From Pericles to Putin Short History Of Europe: A Pocket Essential Eurovision!: A History of Modern Europe Through the World`s Greatest Song Contest Odyssey: Stories of Journeys from Around Europe by the Aarhus 39 Island of Dreams: A Personal History of a Remarkable Place The History of Europe in Bite-sized Chunks The Habsburg Monarchy 1809-1918: A History of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary The Shortest History of Europe An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler The Wife`s Tale: A Personal History Europe: A Natural History Peaks of Europe: A Photographer`s Journey Out of Ashes: A New History of Europe in the Twentieth Century Landscapes of Communism: A History Through Buildings The Social Atlas of Europe Afropean: Notes from Black Europe – Longlisted for the 2020 Jhalak Prize Quest: Stories of Journeys from Around Europe by the Aarhus 39 Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe Europe Before History The Ancient Paths: Discovering the Lost Map of Celtic Europe Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814 Common People: The History of an English Family A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes The River Of Lost Footsteps – A Personal History of Burma Europe`s Tragedy: A New History of the Thirty Years War A History of Hungary – Millenium in Central Europe A Travel Guide to Jewish Europe: Fourth Edition