For a small prosperous country in the middle of Europe modern Austria has avery large and complex history extending far beyond its current borders.Todays Austri... » 

For a small prosperous country in the middle of Europe modern Austria has avery large and complex history extending far beyond its current borders.Todays Austrians have a problematic relationship with that history whetherwith the multinational history of the Habsburg Monarchy or with the timebetween 1938 and 1945 when Austrians were Germans in Hitlers Third Reich.Steven Bellers gripping and comprehensive account traces the remarkable careerof Austria through its many transformations from German borderland todynastic enterprise imperial house Central European great power failedAlpine republic German province and then successful Alpine republic buildingup a picture of the layers of Austrian identity and heritage and their diversesources. It is a story full of anomalies and ironies a case study of the otherside of European history without the easy answers of more clearly nationalnarratives and hence far more relevant to todays world. «