Austria Books

Sounds banal but this is really a good read on late Beethoven.

Soloman's done his homework and he writes a nice, clear, subtly postmodern criticism.

Especially fine is his discussion of Romanticism.

I got this book and read through some chapters, and thought that the book gives some good or objective views on late Beethoven. But for some reason, I don't quite agree with some parts of book when author quoted references and associated Beethoven with some sort of religion or political believes. Although I do know there're some transcendental spirits, sublimity and profundity in Beethoven's late music, in his sonatas, string quartets, Diabelli variation among others, he is not religious even till the end but perhaps the greatest music genius and artist. Author also explored Romanism in late Beethoven, which I took less pleasure in reading. I found it less interesting with some of his writing style, when he quoted poems or others words and let reader go with him on some sort of purposeless or boring ride. But overall it is good book on late Beethoven, especially the chapter on Diabelli variations.

Maynard Solomon has followed-up his distinguished biography of Beethoven (rev.ed. 1998)with an outstanding study of the music of Beethoven's third period and of the intellectual and emotional changes in Beethoven's outlook that likely contributed to Beethoven's late masterworks. These works include the Ninth Symphony, the Missa Solemnis, the Diabelli Variations, the final string quartets, including the great fugue, and the final five piano sonatas.

Solomon's biography of Beethoven was both notable and controversial for its psychoanalytical approach. I find that approach mostly lacking here. For his approach to Beethoven's inner life and development, Solomon draws extensively on Beethoven's Tagebuch, which Solomon describes as "the intimate diary [Beethoven] kept between 1812 and 1818 to which he confided his innmost feelings and desires" (p.2). Solomon finds a "sea change" (as he titles his Prologue) in Beethoven's system of belief beginning in about 1810. Following Beethoven's comparatively fallow period as a composer between 1812-1816, this change in Beethoven's beliefs bore its consequences in the works of his final maturity. In general, Solomon finds Beethoven's beliefs changed from the rational, enlightment, classical thought that characterized, for Solomon, the first and second period works, to a more romantic belief system that focused on inwardness, theology, (I found it fascinating that Beethoven showed awareness of and interest in Eastern thought in the Tagebuch), nature, and imagination. In sum, Beethoven in his final period came more under the influence of romanticism (whatever that notoriously vague term might mean) than is sometimes realized. Furthermore, with his nearly total deafness and the failure of his attempts to establish a lasting relationship with a woman, Beethoven tried mightily to devote his life to the pursuit of his art rather than to his own personal, less exalted ends.

The book consists of twelve chapters, some of which were earlier published, which Solomon has worked into a coherent whole. Of the twelve chapters, seven are examinations of the sources of Beethoven's thought and deal in broad concepts. Thus two chapters explore the relationship between concepts of classicism and romanticism -- highly slippery concepts as Solomon realizes-- and argue that Beethoven's final work and thought show an increased romantic influence -- particularly in its transcendent element. Two chapters discuss the possible influence of Freemasonry upon Beethoven while an additional chapter discusses the increased religious dimension in Beethoven's final works, including the influence of Eastern thought.

The remaining five chapters focus on individual works. The Diabelli Variations receive two detailed chapters. The first of them explores Diabelli's waltz theme and the attraction it might have had for Beethoven while the second is a detailed analysis of the pattern of each of the 33 variations, including copious musical illustrations. There is an outstanding chapter on Beethoven's opus 96 violin sonata and its source in pastorale. There is a chapter on the seventh symphony (not usually considered a late work) and on the influence it shows of Greek poetical meters, and a thorough chapter on the Ninth Symphony. This description only briefly touches the scope of the book as Solomon has provocative things to say about the last quartets, particularly on the opus 130 quartet and on the question of its two finales: the grosse fugue and the much simpler rondo which Beethoven substituted for it. And, as I mentioned, Solomon says much about the last piano sonatas, the Missa Solemnis and about the song cycle "An die Ferne Geliebte" even though these works do not have a specific chapter devoted to them.

I found it a joy to read this book. It combines a love and emotional understanding of Beethoven's music with deep erudition and a love of learning. Beethoven's music and intellectual development are well-discussed even if the reader finds himself not agreeing with all Solomon's arguments. The book is full of detailed consisderation of specific works including quotations from Beethoven's scores. It is probably a book that will be most appreciated by those who have some familiarity with Beethoven's music, particularly the works of the third period, rather than by those coming to the music for the first time.

This is a difficult, challenging, and revealing study of late Beethoven combining scholarship, philosophical thinking, and a love and understanding of Beethoven's music.

Maynard Solomon is probably the most important Beethoven biographer of modern times. His book is essential research for serious musicians and composers who wish to gain insight into late Beethoven. Solomon's writing is dense; every word and paragraph count. Many, many musical examples, so the ability to read music (and knowledge of music theory) is a must. This is not a casual book, but if you are up for it, it is among the most rewarding Beethoven studies around.

Richard Russell
[...]

Scary how this book almost predicts, politically, what is happening in Austria today! Maybe it can happen again! I just couldn't wait to get to the end to find out what happens.

During the usual Sunday dinner at the Cortese residence in Brooklyn, "Red" Cortese - highly decorated, recently widowed, unjustly suspended NYPD detective - becomes convinced "Pop" has a dark secret about a certain piece of family furniture. Following his investigative instincts to an improbable yet racy sexual encounter, and then to Vienna, he uncovers and ever expanding web of dangerous problems and personal crisis.

Certain members of the Viennese establishment are uncomfortable with this brash American, and its not because they don't like his style. They have a lot to hide. Street tough and savvy, he is prepared to deal with what they plan for him. But, can he handle what the investigation may reveal about himself, his father, his new love, Willi Hanfnagle, and her Austrian family?

As one might expect, Red wraps things up neatly in unforeseen but very pleasing ways, with only one or two loose ends, a shaky prosecution outlook and a runaway Russian spy. Perhaps, Peretz is leaving the door open for a sequel. May I suggest: suspect holdings in the Hermitage with modern communists covering for Stalin et al.

I say "Bravo" and "Encore". Peretz handles the story of self-revelation, as it should be, with care and compassion. I was very moved by the Epilogue. It reminded me of the times I have read obituaries or wedding announcements, wondering about the story behind the lines. Read and you shall know! Peretz very skillfully makes the reader and intimate companion of the people he writes about.

"The Mosel Legacy" is a real page-turner. Peretz knows his history and contemporary politics as well as the world of antiques and art. He uses these in combination to create a romantic suspense thriller comparable to Ludlum. You'll read it faster than the speeding bullets it contains.

This book is captivating on many levels. Give it time to get there. There is the man/woman issue. Will they? Won't they? I found myself rooting for him, then her. Then him,not her,chapter by chapter. Their story is but one of many surprising and horrifying mess-with-your-mind dynamics of the book. Surprises inside surprises when you least expect it. This guy (Peretz) twists and turns your mind with each page. There is a touch of Casablanca in the beginning. These two can't possibly get together. Too many issues, villians, heros, constraints. But it is not merely a love story by a long shot.The story moves forward into totally unpredictable predicaments. World history. Today's headlines. Conflicting psychological currents. Bad people from way back when. Really bad people right now. Justice. Injustice. Cops and reprehensible robbers. Love. Hatred (personal and racial). Blood 'n guts. Family lies. NYPD. Nazis. Intelligently written.Satisfyingly sexy. Murderously raw. I can't imagine how he crammed all this into one novel,his first,and credibly tied up every loose thread.It is a great read.

If you are interested in the 1809 campaign, or want to know more about the Army that was Napoleon's main adversary during the entire period, then you should read this book.

This is the definitive work on the subject in English, written by an acknowledged authority on the subject. Telling the story of the allied commander of the period whom Wellington thought the best and most talented of the commanders who fought Napoleon and his terrible Grande Armee, this volume neatly wraps up in easily understandable prose, the problems the Austrian army, and the Archduke Charles, had to face, both with the French and their own bureaucracy.

Essentially an 18th century fighting force, with a very conservative, and many times incompetent leadership, the Austrian army and state manfully took up the challenges brought to the fore by the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon as Emperor of the French. Defeated repeatedly by Napoleon in 1797, 1800, 1805, and 1809, both the army and the Empire it defended demonstrated admirable stamina in raising armies to continually send them into the fire. With the Archduke Charles, they had a world-class commander-in-chief, but even he could not rid the army of both its inherent conservatism, and its rigid adherence to methods by now far obsolete.

The book relies on a plethora of German and Austrian references, many of them archival, and it is the only book in English that has covered the Hapsburg army in any detail. The author is a master of his subject, and the book itself is easy to read, and full of first hand information that is invaluable to the student, historian, and researcher. It is a definite must for all enthusiasts and students of the period.

When first published, this book was touted as the only English text dealing specifically with the Austrian Army and Archduke Charles. There are now several other books on essentially the same topic. I found this book to be rather too academic for the lay reader (me), dwelling as it does in considerable details on Army organisation and reorganisation and other statistical details. There is also a heavy reliance on Austrian sources for the text. The author is aware of this and tries to correct the imbalance in treatment by selective use of material from other sources. However, one is still left with the feeling that this tome is not the definitive account of the Archduke Charles.

Napoleon's Great Adversary is a well-written military study of the evolution of the Austrian Army and the role of its best commander, the Archduke Charles, during the Napoleonic Wars from 1792-1814. Charles, brother of the Austrian emperor, saw his first combat in 1792 and rapidly rose to become the driving force behind the reform movement in the often-defeated Austrian army. The author, a veteran of both the British army and the US Air Force, is a distinguished scholar and expert on the Austrian military. Dr. Rothenberg brings the full weight of his scholarly research and military insights to provide one of the few English language accounts of the Austrian military in this key period.

The book is organized in nine chapters which cover the Hapsburg monarchy and its army in 1792, the wars of the first and second coalitions, the first reform period in 1801-1805, the Ulm/Austerlitz campaigns of 1805, the second reform period of 1806-1809, the campaigns of 1809 and the final phase of the war in 1810-1814. There are 17 maps in this volume, mostly taken from other sources such as Scott Bowden. There are also 23 illustrations, mostly from the Vienna Army Museum, that depict uniforms and notable commanders. Unfortunately, the editors have not done the authors any favors and he notes this in his introduction. Given the dearth of works on this subject and the research effort made by the author, this is a shame.

The author gives an excellent description of the condition, equipment, tactics and doctrine of the Austrian army at the outset of the Napoleonic Wars. However the description of Austrian military operations in 1792-1800 is overly succinct and focuses primarily on Charles' 1796 campaign in Germany. Napoleon's 1796-1797 campaign in Italy is covered in less than two pages and the Battle of Marengo in only one paragraph, with no new Austrian perspectives offered on either campaign. Instead, the author provides considerable detail on the reform programs pushed by Charles after the defeat at Marengo. These reforms were only partly accomplished when war broke out again in 1805, resulting in the catastrophes of Ulm and Austerlitz.

Clearly the author's main interest is the period of reform that followed the defeat at Austerlitz and culminated in Austria's decision to re-enter the war in 1809. It was during this period that Charles, despite the suspicion and hostility of his brother's court, made his greatest contributions as War Minister and field commander. While not equal to the hard-hitting and fast-moving French armies, Charles was able to restore the Austrian army's cohesion and modestly improve its staying power. While he essentially bungled the outset of the 1809 campaign by failing to strike quickly at the dispersed French forces in Bavaria, Charles opted to retire behind the formidable Danube River and await Napoleon's attack. Napoleon soon obliged him with a reckless hasty assault across the river at Aspern-Essling, but a combination of Austrian tenacity and bad luck contributed to Napoleon's first battlefield defeat. The chagrined emperor, who had taken Austrian incompetence for granted, then realized that only a better-prepared offensive could succeed against the stout Austrian defense. Charles, although victorious, elected to do nothing and await the next attack. Napoleon's second crossing was successful and resulted in the bloodbath Battle of Wagram. This costly French victory taught Napoleon that Austrian armies were no longer the small, fragile forces that quickly retreated if their lines of communication were threatened, but were evolving into an attrition-oriented force. However, defeat at Wagram was the end of Charles' career and retired into relative obscurity thereafter.

This account, while somewhat superficial in the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars, is graced with considerable data on Austrian forces. At times, Austrian leadership and tactics seem almost imbecilic and rigid to a fault. Even after the defeat at Wagram, Austrian reforms were reluctant to endorse open-order skirmishing tactics that the French had been using so successfully for the past 17 years. The Austrian army had some of the finest cavalry in Europe but wasted it by splitting it up in an infantry support role and using mounted units piece-meal, just as the French would later do with their armor in 1940. Good ideas, such as introducing all-arms corps formations, were negated by attempting to apply them in the chaos of mobilization. Nevertheless, the Austrian army continued to rise and fight again, even if it was a worn, threadbare force by 1814. Military reforms did not come easily to the hide-bound Hapsburg Empire as the author notes that, "the political and military leadership realized that radical innovations in the military sphere were linked to changes in government and society that neither party desired�Basically the Hapsburg army remained a dynastic force."

I bought this on the basis of a review that praised it for its excellent array of details, but that reviewer was clearly not looking at the same book: the volume sold on this page contains no details of "Children's Games" and very few details of other paintings; the quality of the color plates is generally quite poor. I wish I could find the book that person reviewed; I'll be returning this one!

Some said that PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, who started as a landscape painter, swallowed and then spat the Alps onto canvases and panels calling up Italian mountainous landscape masters Giulio Campagnola and Titian. In fact, he played out about 80 real "Children's games" in the Italian city view style of Piero della Francesca and of the woodcut-illustrated works of Sebastiano Serlio. But earlier Netherlandish school influences were in Flemish landscape painter Joachim Patinir-type bird's-eye detailed never-never land mapping of "Landscape with Christ appearing to the apostles at the sea of Tiberias," "The flight into Egypt," and "The parable of the sower"; and later in Herri met de Bles-type "Procession of Calvary," as his largest picture, "Sermon of St John the Baptist," and "Suicide of Saul" in all its Albrecht Altdorfer-type impressionistic brilliance, as forerunners along with the brilliantly yellow "Harvesters" and the three "Haymaking" women to Peter Paul Rubens. "The adoration of the kings," as his first large-figure and only upright-formatted picture, was one of two Italian-influenced paintings, with altarpiece-type proportions, Masaccio-type Moor, late Quattrocento-type bending and kneeling kings, and Michelangelo-type upper body for the Christ Child against balanced interweaving of strong and subdued reds, pink, green, dun, chamois, and black. The other was the one work that he kept with him until death, his small picture of Christ with Raphael-type pivotally placed adulteress, as one of his most copied paintings along with "Winter landscape with a bird trap," in a mature, rare grisaille with brown touchings and gray shades, and with his favorite theme of humility and tolerance. His only mythological "Landscape with the fall of Icarus" had its ploughman doing business as usual, thereby acting out the German proverb of no plough stopping for the sake of a dying man. Elsewhere, subtly color-schemed figures and spaces pioneered applying Hugo van der Goes-type stupid staring to bug-eyed, senselessly frenzied human automatons in "Parable of the blind" and bringing together in one artwork about 100 "Proverbs." He foreran Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Rembrandt in daringly artificial light effects for great spiritual depth with the brightly illuminated head of St John the Evangelist asleep and the supernaturally lighted Virgin Mary dying uncustomarily surrounded by patriarchs, martyrs, holy virgins, and confessors. The later bareboned getting across attitudes and moods by key body language, as in "The big fish eating the little fish," and by untraditional symbols, as in gluttonously round bulks of bellies and trees in "The land of Cockaigne," took the place of his earliest image- and motif-crowded works, as in the Botticelli-type Calumny with the King and his advisors, Ignorance and Suspicion, for his print series on "Vices" and in the Hieronymus Bosch-type grotesque animal and human combinations of fantasies running wild, with the "Christ in limbo" and "Last judgment" drawings and with the many-hued, -shaded, -textured, and -tinted "Fall of the rebel angels," "Mad Meg," and "Triumph of death" paintings. Throughout, his art drew on a mastery of color, from the wintry crisp, subdued black, brown, gray and white "Hunters in the snow" to the delicately dun, gray, mauve and subdued green "Misanthrope" and the pointillistically fresh-leafed "Landscape with the magpie on the gallows." So author Wolfgang Stechow leaves readers on good terms with the 16th-century Flemish artist's hugely productive career and scantily documented life. His clearly written and helpfully illustrated book works well with HIERONYMUS BOSCH by Jos Koldeweij et al, SEBASTIANO SERLIO ON ARCHITECTURE, SERLIO ON DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, and ALBRECHT ALTDORFER AND THE ORIGINS OF LANDSCAPE by Christopher S Wood.

Pieter Bruegel The Elder must have been a very interesting fellow. I would have liked to have known him. This lovely book lets you enter the strange world of Bruegel, overflowing with the reality of the 16th century Netherlands mixed (in the same painting) with biblical and classical scenes! To the modern eye and mind these are very disconcerting combinations! You have the Tower Of Babel being constructed next to a waterway which contains European sailing ships, while off in the distance you can see the houses of Antwerp. You have Icarus falling into the sea while a 16th century farmer walks by with his ox and while another man fishes nearby, both seemingly oblivious to the fate of the poor man. Bruegel's paintings, most of which were done on wood panel, are full of many different people doing many different things. You get a sense of hustle and bustle and life. Oftimes the people are odd-looking and have strange physiques. Children are indistinguishable from adults. Visual puns abound. Men at a wedding dance have outrageously bulging codpieces; bare buttocks are sometimes visible through windows. Other paintings contain moral lessons and are full of horrible demons or skeletons rampaging through the countryside like some awful supernatural army, raping and murdering. Still other paintings are of idyllic scenes, such as maidens walking through the countryside at harvest time or children playing games on the ice during winter. Bruegel was a master of color and the harvest scenes glow with golden yellow and the winter scenes chill you with whites and subtle greys and leaden skies. Taschen has done it again with another fine book with excellent commentary and high quality reproductions. The paintings of Bruegel are full of humor and horror and beauty and ugliness and sometimes so much is going on you can't digest it all at one time. The paintings of Bruegel are full of life.

I got this book two or three years ago in an Italian-language edition. I can't read Italian, so I can't comment on the quality of the text, but I can say that any Bruegel fan will be very happy to have this book, with or without readable words.

The trouble with most Bruegel books is that they show tiny reproductions of the paintings, necessarily much reduced in size, and, if you're lucky, show a detail or two of each picture. Yet more than any other painter I know of, the pleasure of Bruegel is in the mass of figures. There is no point at all in looking at a painting like the "Children's Games" if you can't spend a good long time looking at all the different figures, enjoying their games and funny poses, and marvelling that the artist could paint them all with such confidence, in translucent paint and with such a sure touch that it looks as if he never rubbed anything out in his whole career.

That's why this book is such a joy: there are ten full-page details of the "Children's Games", on good big pages and in very accurate color. There are ten full-page details of the "Carnival and Lent" picture, and six of the "Suicide of Saul", which is such a small picture to begin with that the details in this book are mostly larger than actual size.

The selections in this book, as the title says, are limited to the pictures in the Vienna museum. This is not as bad a limitation as it might sound, since the majority of Bruegels in the world are probably in this museum. The larger of the two Tower of Babel paintings is here (the one with Nimrod in the foreground), and so are the "Conversion of St. Paul", some of the most famous landscapes, and the splendid "Road to Calvary", with the wonderful classical Mary surrounded by horrible fairground types. All of the pictures are shown with no fewer than four detail pages.

Limiting the book to the Vienna museum does mean that some favorites are left out, though. The Fall of the Rebel Angels, The Triumph of Death, and the smaller, redder Tower of Babel are not in this book. It's still a wonderful volume.

I carried this guide everywhere with me in Vienna. It has mostly everything you need: a map, short history excerpts, pictures and would fit in any purse.

In hind sight, which I gotten a full size book. Even for a short trip, the savings in size in terms of lugging it around didn't make up for the hassle trying to read it.

Very compact, informative little book. Handy to take on your trip. You have everything there. The street map was detailed enough with metro stops on it. Metro map folded out in the back. I read the big DK book for supplements but I only packed the pocket guide. I love it! Also saw another person on a walking tour carrying the same. I wish it had more info and a better map on the out of town trips but I guess that would negate the pocket size purpose, which it promised and delivered totally.

I used this guide and map on a recent trip to Vienna. It was a lifesaver for getting around the Inner Stadt but not as useful outside of the central part of the city. The subway/bus/tram information was useful when I needed to get somewhere fast! It is particularly useful because it is easy to hold in your hand while walking and looking for street names. Overall I would not leave home without it.

The Top 10 format is entirely self-explanatory, a list of Top 10 sights that are must-sees for any first time tourist in a given city or country. Depending on the destination, the Top 10 lists become increasingly more detailed and may include, for example, top 10 churches, museums, children's attractions, festivals, events, restaurants, cafés, pubs, parks and so on. In the second half of each book, the information is effectively repeated but organized by neighbourhood, so the prospective tourist might make the most effective use of limited time touring a given area in a city or country without missing anything of interest.

The information is all linked to beautiful photographs and allows a potential traveler to make sensible choices in advance according to his or her personal tastes. Most telling is the fact that each Top 10 title makes no attempt to be comprehensive. It is absolutely, positively aimed at the first time tourist attempting to do a one shot overview of a city or country. If that is your objective, there is little question that the DK Eyewitness Top 10 series is the hands down winner against all the competition - Blue Guide, Green Guide, Rough Guide, National Geographic, Frommer or Michelin.

As a pre-planner, Top 10 Vienna proved itself to be invaluable. My limited time was well spent and I felt comfortable filling my day with a thoroughly enjoyable selection of attractions that were well matched to my personal tastes and those of my traveling companion. There was not even a single instance where we felt we were misled by the guide into choosing an event, a food, a pub, a hotel, a church, an attraction, a park or a café that was not to our liking. And it was the ideal size to be easily carried around during our travels to keep handy as a pocket reference. High praise, indeed.

And yet, there were still minor - and I stress, minor - quibbles that irritated me when I compared the reality of Vienna to the expectations I had based on the guide. The map of the subway system is now inaccurate in that the U2 line has been extended. In the description of the "heurigen" wine bars in Grinzing on the outskirts of Vienna, no mention is made of the fact that the town is virtually a dead zone until late afternoon and nothing, I repeat, nothing is open over the noon hour. With respect to transportation, I purchased a 72 hour subway ticket and used it for the electric tram system, the S-bahn high speed rail service and the surface bus system. I realized, to my horror, afterward that I had assumed that the subway ticket was all inclusive. To this day, I don't know if that was correct or not because the guide fails to point out whether separate tickets are required for each system. The guide also fails to caution the unwary traveler of the ubiquitous petty larceny that many of the museums indulge in. After you have paid admission and entered, you are advised that for security purposes you MUST check your backpack. All well and good, except that there was always an additional charge levied which was often as much as 1 Euro. A blanket suggestion should be made that walkers in Vienna should always carry a small amount of change in their pockets. There is nothing so disconcerting as struggling to find a public water closet and discovering that there is also a 0.50 fee to enter. Ouch, that hurts in more ways than one, doesn't it! And, last but not least, having searched high and low for Kaisermelange, a coffee concoction including strong black coffee, egg yolk, honey and cognac that was recommended in the guide, I was finally advised by a kindly, sypmathetic waiter that because of salmonella concerns, a food with raw egg was no longer available in Vienna (I don't know if he was right and I didn't check on the availability of steak tartare but, to my dismay, I never found the Kaisermelange!).

Perhaps Eyewitness DK would take these suggestions under advisement for future editions.

Highly recommended for all travelers, real world and armchair alike.

Paul Weiss

For getting around Vienna this is a great guide. It lets you know what the essential sights are as well as the best places to eat. If you are staying longer than two or three days you may want a more thorough guide but I would still get this one for walking around the city with.

I love the Top 10 travel guides because they provide a wealth of information with lots of photos and useful maps, in a very compact, portable size. They are slim volumes that can easily fit inside a small purse.
As with all the "Top 10" books, this volume provides information in the format of giving ten subsections for different subjects. For example, you have a listing of Vienna's top ten "Highlights," followed by lists of the top ten things to see at each of the top ten highlights. The Kunsthistorisches Collections, for example, is listed 3rd under "Highlights," and then, a few pages later, you have the "Top 10 Works of Art" in the Kunsthistorisches Collections listed, along with maps of the museum showing where the works are located.
This book has subjects like "Top 10 Places of Worship," "Top 10 Museums," "Top 10 Palaces and Historical Buildings," "Top 10 Parks and Gardens," "Top 10 Music Venues," "Top 10 Children's Attractions," etc. There are also, of course, top ten listings of restaurants, bars, cafes, shopping (retail stores), and the like. This book also has listings of restaurants, cafes, bars and retail shops for different sections of the city too, so that you can easily find one near your hotel.
At the back of the book is the "Streetsmart" section with its lists under headings such as "Getting to Vienna," "Getting Around Vienna," "Information and Tours," "Budget Tips in Vienna," etc. There are seven lists of Vienna hotels.
Because of its compact size, great maps (including maps of the subway, museums, palaces, and cathedrals), and the wealth of useful information on tourist sites, restaurants, shopping, etc., this is the one and only book that I carried around with me while walking through the streets of Vienna on my recent vacation.

I am glad I purchased this guidebook for our upcoming visit to Vienna and found the information on accommodations, restaurants and sites useful. (Since we haven't visited Vienna, I can't judge the reviews' accuracy.) However, the authors' effort to stick to the "Top 10 format" sacrifices cohesion and the book is hard to follow.

Like all of Venezia's books, this is a great introduction to the musician. The story is in simple to understand language so young children can easily grasp what is being explained. The only caution I would give is in regards to the "comics." Considering a few incidents I've had with my preschool aged children, I would advise people to make sure to emphasize the make believe aspect of these parts when reading them to the younger children.

For older children it is a great music appreciation lesson if you add some listening afterwards. With this book on Mozart I'd recommend listening to and reading about one of his opera's since at one point these are singled out for attention.

I recommend all of these children's "Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers" books. They are chocked full of information along with hilarious cartoons which keep a kid interested! Moviemaniac

We used this book with elementary students in our after school program. Since this year Mozart celebrated a special birthday, we decided to call our class Mozart Mania. First, the students purchased a copy of this book and read it. During our first after school session, the students watched the video The Magic Flute. For their second session, we reviewed Mozart's life by talking about the book, and then we played jeopardy game based on the book's content. The children were divided into three teams, had hand-held buttons to push, just like the real jeopardy game. The book was easy to read and loved by the students. Our third activity was to take the children to a Mozart concert played by the Lincoln Symphony. The book was a hit!

Author Mike Venezia does a great job explaining biographies to children in a way that is both understandable and interesting. The writing style is not dumbed down or patronizing in tone. This is book is one in a series, others are about other musical composers and artists.

The first few pages explain what the musical climate was like in Mozart's life and explains how people used music for entertainment purposes. This is brief and a very good opening to put Mozart's life in perspective. The rest of the book is a full span of Mozart's life. Unlike other books for children about Mozart, the fact that Mozart was a boy genius is not the main content of the book. Oddly, Mozart's children are never mentioned. Mozart's marriage is briefly mentioned as is Mozart's death.

I have mixed feelings about the illustrations. I appreciated that the illustrations documented the various time periods of Mozart's life. I loved the illustrations that were photographs, fine drawings, or copies of fine paintings of the places Mozart visited, of Mozart and his family, and scenes of his operas. I did not at all like the eight cartoons whose illustrations and accompanying text were sarcastic and silly. These eight cartoons were completely out of character with the text of the book and I didn't appreciate them at all. My children and I have enjoyed other books by this author that did not have dumb cartoons and jokes. My children, aged 4 and 6 haven't needed these silly and sometimes insulting jokes to make the subject matter enjoyable. The interesting biography's text and other illustrations are high quality and are better off without these cartoons. The cartoons downgrade my rating to a 4.

I recommend this book and others by Mike Venezia to teach young children about important people in history.

The author of this book does an excellent job of explaining the development of Austrian economics in the US. Vaughn illustrates the importance of the Calculation and Capital debates, both in the development of the Austrian paradigm and in the decline of its reputation during the 1930's. Her views on Mises, Kirzner and Rothbard are bound to cause controversy, but she develops her critiques carefully. Vaughn explains Hayek's contributions clearly, and demonstrates the importance of his work on psychology and social theory to the Austrian paradigm. Vaughn also brings her readers up to date by discussing many of the most recent developments in Austrian economics. However, the most important contribution of this book is in her discussions of lesser-known Austrians. Vaughn gives Weiser the credit that he deserves for developing the concept of opportunity cost and for raising the issue of calculation under socialism. Vaughn also explores the ideas of one of the least understood and most mysterious figures in Austrian economics- Ludwig Lachmann. Vaughn's arguments against equilibrium theorizing and for process orientated paradigms are unlikely to bring about an immediate revolution in economic science, but her case is compelling.

This excellent book documents in succinct but engaging style the origin and history of the Austrian school of economics from a distinctly Lachmannian point of view. My exposure to Austrian economics began with the work of Murray Rothbard, and from there moved on to Mises and then Kirzner. Predictably, my subsequent reading of both the Austrian and neoclassical literature has always been interpreted through the traditional (conventional) Austrian lense.

This book put everything in persepective for me. Karen Vaughn argues that Austrians agree on fundamentals, but disagree on their interpretation, emphasis, and applicaiton. Features such as subjectivism, time, ignorance, knowledge and human action figure prominently in every Austrian work. However, the way in which these subjects come to be treated differ radically in nearly every Austrian account of the economic process. In fact, she argues that the work of many Austrians represent a significant (and unfortunate) departure from the work of the school's founder, Carl Menger. The themes of ignorace, time and processes are lost in the clean, equilibrating, and unproblematic mechanisms of laissez-faire as it has come to be expounded by both Mises and Rothbard. Additionally, the pioneering work on entrepreneurship by Israel Kirzner is also symptomatic of the unavoidable tendency to abstract from time and ignorance in order to construct or articulate an orderly and well-functioning market process.

Throughout the book, the author continually hints at a possible (viable) alternative economic paradigm. The best source to draw inspiration from, the author argues, can be found in the writings of Ludwig Lachmann (the quintessential radical subjectivist). However, hints are really all we get in the book. Her extended treatment of Lachmann only really occurs in the second to last chapter, and even there the reader is left wanting more. But the author's ability to use Lachmannian insights to critique the work of other Austrians (Mises, Rothbard, Kirzner) is fascinating, and worth the price of the book alone. But in the end, her defense of this position is never really developed in the book. Interestingly, however, she does not see this as a sign of failure or cause for despair. Staying true to the notions of time and ignorance, she argues that the very recognition of these concepts "plays havoc with any theory of self-ordering market processes" (p.161).

The Austrian "genealogy" pursued and defended in this book clearly is with Menger --> Hayek --> and Lachmann. Anyone interested in Austrian economics is seriously advised to read this fascinating historical account of its development and migration to America.

My introduction to the Austrian School of Economics came with a chance encounter of a publication from the Institute of Economic Affairs of London. This one monograph helped me to discover more of their particular publications and other similar books and pamphlets at the Laissez Faire Bookshop where one could often overhear at the very least some strenuous debates about economics and politics etc. My real academic introduction came with a paper by Peter Wynarczyck presented at a Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic Conference which drew together some of the historic strands of the school and some of the controversial ideas which it had generated.

I came back to Karen Vaughn's book while preparing another review for Amazon although in a slightly different field and, from the point of view of an educated layman, I have to say that I find this particular volume to be an excellent and succint piece of work but which perhaps at the time of writing requires a new edition.

I do not claim to be au fait with all of the various controversies within the Austrian School but I understand that there are some dogmatic fissures between certain groups some of whom claim that there's alone is the one true faith and who resist criticism especially from outside the academic arena.

My purpose in this brief review is to highlight what I believe is to be one of the best introductions to this particular field that I have read which is generally accessible to anyone with a reasonable grasp of economic and political ideas and who is at least a little sceptical of the current state of neoclassical economic theory. For readers who would like to sample the Austrian tradition without delving into a book of this size I would heartily recommend Stephen Littlechild's 'Fallacy of the Mixed Economy' even though it too is showing it's age.

Austrian Economics in America is a story of a set of ideas who's time has come. The pretentions of economics as science are seen every day while the failures are glossed over. I hasten to add that I am not engaged in a sweeping generalisation against all economics. I certainly believe that it has some usefulness but it appears to me that other than providing a means by which we may view the world there are some serious shortcomings to it's applicability.

Vaughn shows how a different perspective, originating with Carl Menger, can illuminate some of the shortcomings of the science of economics and offer a different and more richer view, but which too has it's attendant problems and issues. She sets out carefully and with the appropriate level of detail, the development of those ideas over a 120 year period and their gradual acceptance, albeit in a limited number of academic centres, in America primarily but increasingly across a post Communist world. She traces out the essential differences between some of the rival camps within the school and suggests links between them and even offers some suggestions to move forward. One of the things that I really like about this book is the openess with which she draws comparisons with other areas in economics which are looking into similar areas of study although from different perspectives and political or ideological viewpoints. In the onclusion particularly she quietly suggests that the implications for future developments in the Austrian tradition may be a lot more radical than the protaganists in the tradition expect.

Reading the book is a pleasant enough task because of the author's prose style but reader's beware of the radical notions which are introduced. As an historical document and summary it really has much to commend it. As a statement of somewhat revolutionary ideas it is a great introduction to some of the mostsignificant academic thinkers of our time who are held in great esteem. My only, very minor reservation is that the contributions of some other pioneers in this field are not included such as the sterling work of Arthur Seldon at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London and for the Atlas Foundation in brining these ideas to a wider and younger audience across the world, but that is a minor quibble.

It certainly works for me at least in helping the reader taker a broader look at economics and motivate one to delve deeper into the treasures of the Austrian tradition. I would urge anyone working for an undergraduate or graduate degree in Economics to broaden their horizons with theis very clear and succinct book.

I could not put this book down! The author wrote a personal and honest story which seemed believable. I recommend it to all.

What struck me with this book was its honesty, the warts-and-all view of a boy's attempt at dealing with a nightmare by design; his incredible survival instincts and the places they took him. This book stands as testimony to the reality that Jews did, in fact, stand up in the face of Adolf Hilter through whatever limited or even extraordinary means opportunty presented. You can't write fiction like this first-hand account, though people like Herman Wouk have tried with great market success. The author, for example, chances upon people like Louis Armstrong giving us milestones as a frame of reference, but with a sincerity the best historical fiction writer sorely lacks.

My family came to the U.S. from Austria in 1907. If we had stayed, the majority of us would have been killed. This book is the personal account of a young man from a well to do Jewish family in Vienna. When the Nazis came to Austria his family fled, and when he could no longer flee, he decided to join a partisan group to combat the Nazis in Northern Italy. This book is honest and to the point. As a person who spent six years in the Marines and has a degree in History, I found Burger's accounts to be very real. His first-hand experience with resisting the Nazis is something everyone should read so it never happens again. If the world had reacted to Hitler the way Burger did as a young man, WWII probably would have been avoided. This book should be included as part of the curriculum of every WWII History course.

One of the best books I've ever read - it has humor, intelligence, and imagination - all woven together into a magnificent story that captures the reader from the very first sentence.

Passionate, intelligent, lively, rich, complex and light at the same time, this book doesn't look to give answers, just a story...stories...requires a reader with the capacity to feel and think independently...if you need someone to hold your hand read Lope.

It's a multifaceted adventure (the reading of it) fun and touching.

This picaresque novel is a sweeping historical/satircal/mock autobiography that should please readers with different interests. Marlowe's novel is a well researched historical story that shows the tensions bewtween the uper and lower class Spaniards as well as the stuggles among Christinas, Muslims and Jews. These stuggles are highlighted by the section devoted to the Algerian prison. marlowe deftly blends in satire throughout the novel whose targets include literary critics, Lope de Vega, Christopher Marlowe and even William Shakespeare. In addition to these two aspects, and most importantly, this is the life of Miguel de Cervantes, told to us by the writer himself. Marlowe traces Cervantes's life and stuggles in a smooth narrative that never loses pace. Cervantes becomes a tangible character who is passionate, depressed, humorous, bitter and ultimately successful. This novel becomes a highly accesible (auto)biography that combines illusion and historical fact with well formed assumptions about Cervantes's life. The only short coming of the novel is Marlowe's hinting at some keen philosophy on writing but not carrying it through to any conclusion. Cervantes (Marlowe) should be more complete in his discussions on the creative process and substance of quality literature. This is a fine novel that should be read by anyone with an interest in Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Manch or the European Renaissance.