Danubia

A Personal History of Habsburg Europe

By: Simon Winder

Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart

From the end of the Middle Ages to the First World War, Europe was dominated by one family: the Habsburgs. Their unprecedented rule is the focus of Simon Winder's vivid third book, Danubia.

Winder's approach is friendly, witty, personal; this is a narrative that, while erudite and well researched, prefers to be discursive and anecdotal. In his survey of the centuries of often incompetent Habsburg rule which have continued to shape the fate of Central Europe, Winder does not shy away from the horrors, railing against the effects of nationalism, recounting the violence that was often part of life. But this is a history dominated above all by Winder's energy and curiosity. Thrillingly informative, Danubia is a treat that listeners will be eager to dip into.

©2013 Simon Winder (P)2018 Tantor

Amazing level of detail

While I learned a great deal from this book, the author’s personality was a lamp through the museum of an obsolete world. His meditations on the scope of the history are always helpful context.

Lovely narration, brilliant book

Lovely narration, brilliant book with the serious material leavened by dry humor that reminds me of Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series. I should take some time to digest Danubia now that I’ve completed it, and I will reread it in e-book format, but now I want to go ahead and read Winder’s Germania.

Informative and Entertaining

I throughly enjoyed this book both for it’s level of detail and it’s entertaining presentation. I found the author’s personal interjections and observations quite humorous and providing a dry wit that I very much appreciated. I had to refer to maps several times in order to remain situationally aware of the story and would highly recommend having a map handy as a reference while listening to this book. I am looking forward to listening to the author’s other works.

Good listen

Historians travel guide. Liked that it had a lighter take on most histories while still being informative.

Not an easy book, but worth the time .

The research is so deep it can be daunting...but I appreciated the many tie-ins of culture and personality. Man is not designed to govern man.... this history is one more proof.