1766 The Last Habsburg, by Gordon Brook-Shepherd (read 27 Feb 1983) This is a 1968 book about Emperor Karl--born 17 Aug 1887 at Pressburg, fifty miles upstream from Vienna, succeeded to the throne upon Franz Josef's death on 21 Nov 1916, died at Funchal, Portuguese Madeira, on 21 Nov 1922 at 12:23 P.M. This book, written by a Briton, is very sympathetic to Karl, and was written with the cooperation of Empress Zita [who lived till 1989]. I had on 19 Aug 1945 read Imperial Twilight The Story of Karl and Zita of Hungary, by Bertita Harding but remembered practically nothing of it, and this book is very detailed and good, though not too well documented and not objective. ( )

This is a biography of Kaiser Karl, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who followed Franz Joseph II in 1916. He only reigned until November 11 1918, when he abdicated in the general turmoil that resulted in the catastrophic loss of the war. Karl, of course was not the last Hapsburg. The family still lives, and the political climate of Europe has changed somewhat. It is possible his grandson could resume a position of power. In any case, this book recounts the tale of the Karl up to his days as emperor and to some extent, his brief life afterwards. He did not long survive the fall of the empire. ( )