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The Habsburg Empire

A New History

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The Habsburg Empire

By: Pieter M. Judson
Narrated by: Michael Page
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About this listen

In a panoramic and pioneering reappraisal, Pieter M. Judson shows why the Habsburg Empire mattered so much, for so long, to millions of Central Europeans.

Rejecting fragmented histories of nations in the making, this bold revision surveys the shared institutions that bridged difference and distance to bring stability and meaning to the far-flung empire. By supporting new schools, law courts, and railroads along with scientific and artistic advances, the Habsburg monarchs sought to anchor their authority in the cultures and economies of Central Europe. A rising standard of living throughout the empire deepened the legitimacy of Habsburg rule, as citizens learned to use the empire's administrative machinery to their local advantage. Nationalists developed distinctive ideas about cultural difference in the context of imperial institutions, yet all of them claimed the Habsburg state as their empire.

The empire's creative solutions to governing its many lands and peoples - as well as the intractable problems it could not solve - left an enduring imprint on its successor states in Central Europe. Its lessons remain no less important today.

©2016 The President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2017 Tantor Eastern Europe Modern Colonial Period Socialism Imperialism Soviet Union Self-Determination Middle Ages Latin America War Russia Law Capitalism

Critic Reviews

"[A] subtly argued work of deep scholarship.... A nuanced scholarly reappraisal of a significant European empire." ( Kirkus Reviews)
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Although interesting in its scope and very detailed, it was a difficult listen and I'm not sure that I really absorbed much about this era of history.

Detailed and academic

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Judson's original text was a groundbreaking new study of the Habsburg regime and its relationship with local communitiesand cultures throughout East-central Europe; and it is honest. It truly is a 'New history' of the Old Empire. Michael Page's narration also does justice to this masterpiece study and his pronunciation of names of places and people in Polish, Czech, Ukranian, German, Romanian and Hungarian (among others) is both clear and accurate.
Anyone interested in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century Europe, or in the history of empires and nationalism, would love this book.

A refreshing history of the Late Habsburg Empire

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The best explanation of the reforms and internal life of the Austro-hungarian empire between the wars which I have found

Very through and informative

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