"I went to three cities, and found not only three urban personalities, but, unexpectedly, three ways of living in the uncertain centre of Europe,' says Brook at the end of his visit to Vienna, Budapest and Prague. In his journal he examines their architecture and cultural life, their political and economic systems, and the way they have adapted to post-war pressures. Starting with Vienna, he concludes that in response to the trauma of Nazi occupation and the war, the Viennese have opted for caution and stability as the supreme values. Having achieved an enviable level of prosperity and social security they are content to enjoy it — survivors of a shrunken nation playing safe among the past architectural glories of the Habsburgs.