Austria Books

The only disadvantage of this volume is that the Author tried to discuss literally all "foot" units, including irregulars, militia and volunteers (in my opinion - these units need to be treated in separate volume). Due to the lack of space the title does not cover the Austrian REGULAR infantry uniforms, arms and equipment in full, unfortunately.

Dittersdorf lived and worked for several patrons in Central Europe, and knew many important men of his period. He is quite candid about his life, and not above amusing vanity. One of the central personalities in the musical transition from High Baroque to the Classical style, he reveals the relationship of a noble patron to a musician, and at times the chafing of a man of talent whose ability was taken for granted by his employers. This is a very easy book to read, and a charming account of his life, warts and all.

I just purchased the latest edition of this book and am comparing it to one I have from 1984. I would rate the 1984 edition as a 5 star. This newest one is lacking.

The size format has changed, but this is of no consequence to the content. What's missing from the newer edition are sections of the "Practical Information" section. The older edition had lists of the Castles, Schlosshotels, Country Houses, Monasteries and Religious House; and these antiquities are some of the main attractions of this beautiful country.

The newer edition contains none of these, and the space has been taken with lists of Information Offices, Water Sports and Winter Sports Centres, etc. It certainly appears - disappointingly - that the focus of this used to be great guide has changed. Good, it is; but no longer great. 4 stars

This book is attractively put together and contains excellent pictures. The maps are somewhat confusing to use; an inset master map keyed to the individual maps would be very helpful as an overview. The coverage is selective and omits many parts of this region. My biggest criticism of this book is incorrect information. For example, the phone number listed for Auto Europe for car rentals on p. 27 is a phone sex line and the email addresses for Austrian tourism information on page 21 are incorrect.

The overall organization of the book is very good. In the beginning there is a broad overview of the region's with sections on: Travel Facts, Driver's Guide, Getting to the regions, and a cultural and historical overview. Then, starting with Munich and ending with the Grossglockner Road and Hohe Tauern National Park the region's are covered, although selectively, in detail with a detailed map for each coverage. Each subregion is evaluated on a five-level scale for nature, scenery, walking, architecture, children, wildlife, food and drink, and history. The reader is advised to have another detailed map of the region handy when using the maps in this book.

Glaringly out of place are two full page ads that detract from the books appearance.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to any potential visitor to this fascinating part of Europe. The photographs are breathtaking and the book is very informative and educational.

This biography of Beethoven is well done. However, I just ordered the
Naxos biography because it has his music compositions within the story
of his life. I ordered this because I just finished the Naxos edition
of the life of Mozart. I then realized how much more enjoyable it is
with the music included. This edition of Beethoven's life is complete.
Whereas the Naxos edition is abridged. So I felt that both were necessary
to have a complete picture of this complicated, talented composer.

I approached this book with some trepidation, as I am not a fan of biography. Fortunately, this volume is much more than just a life of Beethoven- it is also a fascinating picture of the musical and social life of the Vienna of the early 19th century, with Mozart just dead, Haydn in his late, great years, and Beethoven the young lion of society. Although I call it a picture, it is more of a jigsaw, built as it is of snippets- letters, newspaper reports, bits of gossip, descriptions from contemporary accounts of all types. This has been skilfully done so that it does not feel fragmented, but rather forms a remarkably cogent whole. Apart from the structure, the image of Beethoven that the book creates is also of interest. No misunderstood artist struggling in the garret here, but a young man celebrated by society, the associate of the aristocracy and suitor of several beauties. Yes, this degenerates to some extent as he becomes shut off by deafness and the desire to express more in his music, but he is clearly seen to have retained very strong support. This is a believable biography, and a very capable use of a difficult format.

My husband used this book more than I have. Neither one of us knew much about Vienna, and we started off not knowing what we wanted to see. We used this book and the internet to decide how to spend our upcoming time in Vienna. We were especially grateful to have a good map.

This excellent book is a description and analysis of academic biology under the Nazis. This book has an interesting genesis. The author is a biologist and former high school science teacher who became a scholar. Deichmann's work was not supervised by a historian. Her mentor was Benno Muller-Hill, a prominent geneticist who has written about genetics and eugenics during the Nazi regime. Unlike many histories, this book has a quantitative focus; Deichmann assembled a good deal of data about appointments, research achievements, and funding by careful study of the appropriate archival records. The quantitative data is complemented by careful analysis of the scientific work done during this period and review of other writings of many of the involved scientists. Deichmann set out to answer a series of important questions. What was the impact the purge of Jews and leftist scientists on German biology. What happened to those purged? Did the purges affect the type or quality of work done in Germany? Did the Nazi regime hinder research, as was often claimed after the war? To what extent did the remaining biologists collaborate with the Nazi regime? What was the long term effect of the Nazi regime on German biology?
Deichmann shows that the purges affected a significant but not huge number of German biologists. Approximately 14% of the individuals she identifies as academic biologists were forced out of their positions. This is not a large number but Deichmann shows as well that the purged included a disproportionate number of very talented scientists, including some individuals who were world leaders and others, like the late Viktor Hamberger, who would become world leaders. Deichmann is careful to discuss the shortcomings of her methods of enumeration. She doesn't include biochemists, since they were apparently usually in chemistry faculties nor does she include other types of scientists, like chemists or physicists who later migrated into biology. Consequently, her assessment underestimates the long term effect of the purge of Jews and other undesirables. Deichmann shows as well that the purge was accompanied by little protest and a good deal of rather nasty careerism on the part of those who were not purged. Many of those purged were able to establish themselves abroad and had productive careers but many did not, resulting in the premature curtailment of important scientific careers. The type of work done in Germany remained largely unchanged, with many important scientists continuing to work in their chosen fields. A small number of fields, like experimental embryology, came to halt, but most areas continued on. Funding for biology research rose significantly during the Nazi period. While Hitler was personally hostile towards science, many important members of the Nazi hierarchy were enthusiastic about science, including biology. Deichmann provides a series of excellent summaries of work done during the Nazi period. She shows also how quite a few biologists were enmeshed in some of the most horrible aspects of the Nazi regime. Deichmann devotes considerable effort to discussing the effects of the Nazi period on the post-war performance of German biology. In particular, why didn't German biologists contribute to the genesis of molecular biology? This issue is discussed also by Muller-Hill in a preface to the main text. Deichmann and Muller-Hill suggest that the answer is multifactorial including the effects of the devastated German economy, the loss of talented exiled scientists, and especially the intellectual isolation of German biologists after the war. I can't disagree strongly with this analysis though I suspect that Deichmann and Muller-Hill underestimate the effects of the physical impact of the war. During the 1950s, while Germany was rebuilding itself from wasteland, American Universities were beginning the enormous expansion that would lead to the creation of the largest research establishment in human history.
This book is written clearly though there are probably some minor translation errors.
Recommended strongly.

If you have not been able read Jung due to the sheer number of works he produced, here is a critical summary for you. Wilson is probably one of the most well-read humans living today. Here he has taken on the challenge of reading Jung and has managed a coherent summary of Jung's life and his writings. The primary virtue of this book is that Wilson has created a starting place for the beginning reader of Jung.

The Director of the Liechtenstein Collections has given a succinct history of the family and collections. Beautifully illustrated with many of the great masterpieces from this Princely collection. As art books go it sells at a modest price as well.