The Habsburgs

byMartyn Rady

The Rise and Fall of a World Power

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In The Habsburgs, Martyn Rady tells the epic story of a dynasty and the world it built - and then lost - over nearly a millennium. From modest origins, the Habsburgs grew in power to gain control of the Holy Roman Empire in the fifteenth century, before their possessions rapidly expanded to take in a large part of Europe, stretching from the Far East to the New World. The family continued to dominate Central Europe until the catastrophe of the First World War.

With its seemingly disorganized mass of territories, its tangle of laws and its medley of languages, the Habsburg Empire has always appeared haphazard and incomplete. But here Martyn Rady shows the reasons for the family's incredible endurance, driven by the belief that they were destined to rule the world. The Habsburg emperors were themselves absurdly varied in their characters - from warlords to contemplatives, from idle to frenzied - but all driven by the same sense of family mission.

The Habsburgs is the definitive history of a remarkable dynasty that, for better or worse, shaped Europe and the world.
This is probably the best book ever written on the Habsburgs in any language, certainly the best I have ever read ... a brilliant achievement. Students, scholars and the general reader will never find a better guide to Habsburg history. No one will ever again know as much about the subject as Rady.
Alan Sked, Times Literary Supplement

About Martyn Rady

Martyn Rady is Masaryk Professor of Central European History at University College London. He has written several major works on the history of Hungary, from the medieval period to the twentieth century, but has also written on topics as diverse as the Hussites, vampirism and the Emperor Charles V. Rady's last book, The Habsburgs, was described in the Times Literary Supplement as 'probably the best book ever written on the Habsburgs in any language'.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9780141987194
  • Length: 416 pages
  • Price: £4.99
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