Austria Books

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.

Interesting snippets and factoids about all sorts of natural and human phenomena in Australia. Want to know the deepest gorge in each State/Territory? Height of some well-known waterfalls? Longest road ascents? All the answers are here.

Nothing terribly profound, and it is not hard to imaging how much of a crashing dinner-party bore you could become if you start to recite 'interesting snippets. On the other hand, if you are a Quiz night afficianado, or compiler of questions, this is one of the tomes to have at hand! It could also be a useful addition to the primary or high school reference library.

Although you won't find any new and interesting twists in this book about the death of Crown Prince Rudolf and Mary Vetsera, you will find easy reading that portrays the events at Mayerling in a straight forward, easy to follow account. The author promised to give the true account of how she died, and I was hoping for something new;I think that most people already know that Rudolf killed her and then killed himself. The pictures were excellent, and several of them I had never seen before. If you're new to the Mayerling legend, I highly recommend reading this one first

If you're thinking of making the trip, this book will convince you to do it. Things may have changed in the 20 years since the book was written, but the history and the lure of the river hasn't. Kilometer by kilometer, Rob Heikell writes about the history, people, and navigating the river.

Although Mai is a psychiatrist, he did an excellent job in writing a book that proposes, and explaines, the various medical/emotional problems Beethoven experienced during his life time in a manner that is easily understood by the general public. I also appreciated Dr. Mai's approach in evaluating the symptoms Beethoven presented, and then offering "probable" diagnoseis, not absolute diagnoses. For how can anyone absolutely state Beethoven suffered from this or that disease, mental illness, without having actually seen the patient, or having access to the body?

Being a mental health professional myself, I found the chapter on illness and creativity very interesting. I have often speculated that Beethoven may have suffered from a mood disorder (Bi-polar), but have never voiced that speculation. Again, a firm diagnosis can not be made; however, it is something to ponder.

It is somewhat disturbing to those of us who worship Beethoven to consider he may have succumbed to the human frailties of deafness, IBS, alcoholism, depression, suicidal ideation, etc. He was such a genius, who created such awe inspiring music during tumultuous times personally and during a tumultuous time in history, it is hard to take him off of the superhuman pedestal and see him as a man with all of the trappings of man. Dr. Mai's writing demonstrates how human the Great One really was, but in a manner that is non-judgemental, nor offensive.

This is a very easy and enjoyable book to read.

This is a serviceable version of Napoleon's last major victory--at Wagram, as he defeated the Austrian Army under Archduke Charles. The battle was a monster of its kind, with a huge number of soldiers involved. 300,000 troops fought over a 2 day period; there were about 72,000 casualties (killed, wounded, missing, prisoners), with each side suffering about equally. As the book concludes: "The year after Wagram, Napoleon still looked unbeatable, but Wagram was to be his last decisive victory, the last to break the enemy's will to resist."

The book itself traces the Wagram campaign from its early origins. It describes how Napoleon created an army by shuffling a variety of units, some scattered hither and yon. It also describes the Austrian forces, under the leadership of Archduke Charles.

The maneuvering before the battles itself is described. Indeed, the lead up to Wagram was most propitious for the Austrian forces. In a battle at Aspern-Essling, Charles managed to bloody the French and experience a tactical victory. Unhappily for the Austrians, however, they did very little (such as fortification) after their modest victory. On the other hand, Napoleon redoubled his labors, brought some additional forces onto the field, and developed a typically ambitious plan of action.

At the last instant, Charles decided that he must also show some initiative. Thus, both armies planned to attack the other at about the same time. However, the French generals were better, Napoleon hit his stride during the battle at Wagram, and the end result was a fairly convincing French victory. It was not Austerlitz, but it was a substantial win.

Some useful features of the book: there are some decent maps at the beginning (while they could be better, they are serviceable); there is a nice section with short biographies of the major figures; the "order of battle" provides detailed information on the structure and leadership of the armies. The writing is not elegant, but it is serviceable. For a brief description of Napoleon's last big victory, this will serve.

A final brief comment. The author died before this book was published, always a sad event.

This book is very interesting to read. It breaks down culture in several areas and everything is very well organized and easy to find. It provides lots of information on many topics and people but nothing is too in depth. I was thinking of using this in my German classroom but the words and sentance structure are college level. I would recommend this book to adults who have an interest in German culture.