Die Habsburger

A dynasty like the Habsburgs has never existed in history. From a small count family in southwestern Germany, they rose to become a ruling dynasty that conquered the Holy Roman Empire and simultaneously built their own empire along the Danube. Moreover, the Habsburg realm at times spanned several continents; indeed, as contemporaries admiringly said, the sun never set on it.

Martyn Rady encapsulates this grand history in a sweeping narrative that examines both the rulers and the fundamental aspects of European history. The power struggle in the Middle Ages between the princes and the emperor, the religious conflicts between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, the Enlightenment movement, and nationalism: the Habsburgs were always centrally involved. This also applies to the final phase, the 19th century up to the "Great War," which brought about the end of the Habsburgs. The eternal Emperor Franz Joseph, his beautiful Empress Sisi, and the colorful multi-ethnic state of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy are figures everyone seems to know, as they have become the inspiration for countless novels and films. Rady reveals that the reality was different—and by no means less exciting.