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eric_conrad's review against another edition
4.0
My primary reason for reading this book was my long-time interest in the Habsburgs and I was rewarded for my effort by witnessing a once mighty ruling family falling into ruins. Most of the battles and the names of the generals were new to me but made me appreciate this part of Europe more than I had prior to my reading.
sallypaul's review against another edition
3.0
I appreciated the subject and learned a lot about the Habsburg empire. But the repetitious "army x moved here and army y moved here" cadence got old. Other than Conrad, few of the players were well fleshed out. Still, I learned a lot and that was my reason for picking up this book.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
3.0
An OK book that somewhat fills a lacuna for me, and, when looked at in a certain light, first seemed better than Wawro's "doughboys" book, but eventually did not.
Here's the good, the bad and the ugly.
First, and foremost, he details just how much the Ausgleich hamstrung the Dual Monarchy, not just from 1867 and every 10-year renewal, but even in the war. (I knew it hamstrung it between the shots at Sarajevo and the declaration of war.) Specifically, this included Austrian (shorthand throughout this review except when more explicitness is needed) military preparations, as well as opening up the so-called "madhouse of nationalities."
Second, Wawro is blunt about Franz Joseph, saying he probably should have abdicated several years before Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.
That said, there are issues. Criticizing FJ for not wanting to surrender part of the South Tyrol to keep Italy out of the war is over the top. Would Wawro, of Ukrainian ancestry from Galicia, criticize Zelensky for not surrendering the Donbas?
Second, per other reviewers, the maps are hard to read. The Galician ones are bad; the Serbian ones are worse. And, not extremely helpful beyond that, in that they show just static positions.
Third, and a theme I noted in spades on the "doughboys" book, it's not well written, as far as writing style, but it's not as bad as that.
But, OTOH, it deserves protection from critics. "Biased"? So is any WWI history that focuses on just one of the Powers. Claiming Austria wasn't as bad as Russia, for example, is a red herring. An Amazon reviewer touting Frederic Morton should spell his first name correctly, and "Thunder at Twilight" isn't this book. Another person cites "Prit Bullar" instead of the actual "Prit Buttar."
On the third hand, besides looking at the schlamperei of the Austrian monarchy, Wawro may indeed have an animus for the Magyars. And, I've never before seen claims that Bismarck actively backed the Ausgleich as part of weakening the Hapsburgs. He also mischaracterizes what it involved and doesn't note that in some ways, it still didn't get Hungary back to pre-1848 status. In other ways, it more than did so.
Also, while noting the problem of multiple languages in Austrian military command, he doesn't discuss if this had worsened since Solferino and Königgrätz or not.
These "third hand" issues dropped this to three stars.
Finally, I've read enough about it now, more than 30 books directly or indirectly related, I am adding a "World War 1" tag and will back-tag other books as I can.
Here's the good, the bad and the ugly.
First, and foremost, he details just how much the Ausgleich hamstrung the Dual Monarchy, not just from 1867 and every 10-year renewal, but even in the war. (I knew it hamstrung it between the shots at Sarajevo and the declaration of war.) Specifically, this included Austrian (shorthand throughout this review except when more explicitness is needed) military preparations, as well as opening up the so-called "madhouse of nationalities."
Second, Wawro is blunt about Franz Joseph, saying he probably should have abdicated several years before Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.
That said, there are issues. Criticizing FJ for not wanting to surrender part of the South Tyrol to keep Italy out of the war is over the top. Would Wawro, of Ukrainian ancestry from Galicia, criticize Zelensky for not surrendering the Donbas?
Second, per other reviewers, the maps are hard to read. The Galician ones are bad; the Serbian ones are worse. And, not extremely helpful beyond that, in that they show just static positions.
Third, and a theme I noted in spades on the "doughboys" book, it's not well written, as far as writing style, but it's not as bad as that.
But, OTOH, it deserves protection from critics. "Biased"? So is any WWI history that focuses on just one of the Powers. Claiming Austria wasn't as bad as Russia, for example, is a red herring. An Amazon reviewer touting Frederic Morton should spell his first name correctly, and "Thunder at Twilight" isn't this book. Another person cites "Prit Bullar" instead of the actual "Prit Buttar."
On the third hand, besides looking at the schlamperei of the Austrian monarchy, Wawro may indeed have an animus for the Magyars. And, I've never before seen claims that Bismarck actively backed the Ausgleich as part of weakening the Hapsburgs. He also mischaracterizes what it involved and doesn't note that in some ways, it still didn't get Hungary back to pre-1848 status. In other ways, it more than did so.
Also, while noting the problem of multiple languages in Austrian military command, he doesn't discuss if this had worsened since Solferino and Königgrätz or not.
These "third hand" issues dropped this to three stars.
Finally, I've read enough about it now, more than 30 books directly or indirectly related, I am adding a "World War 1" tag and will back-tag other books as I can.
mattestmachina's review
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Interesting look at an under-served period of history, but falls apart once the shooting begins by descending into a series of descriptions of troop movements and petty politicking without really providing enough context to understand what's going on. The villains are a bit too neatly cast, and the peripheral players (people and nations) tend to feel like they're serving the plot rather than having their own motivations.
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