Brook-Shepherd seems to know the Austrian 1% really well, but has no insight into the other 99%. I thought all along that this book had a rather peculiar take on Austrian history, but the Waldheim bit confirmed it. He left out the really right wing candidate in the election, and seemed to have no idea of the way the attacks on Waldheim were seen in the general population here. ( )

For me, this is my seminal work on Austrian history. Unlike others, it offers a more balanced view, looking at Austrian history (and society) from a position of knowledge but without serious bias.

It also was a personal revelation for me, as it detailed the role of my school's founder's family in securing the abdication of Emperor Charles in 1919, something that although my school was proud of its history, the role of its former students in building the Empire and, indeed, its connections with Europe and Catholicism, was never mentioned!
(Review from September 2008)
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I now gather from various sources that Brook-Shepherd's perspective is not so balanced as I first imagined. I was probably comparing it with some histories that were little more than popular journalism by people who knew nothing about Austria. Perhaps a re-read will result in a re-evaluation; and if it does, I shall revise my review.
(November 2015) ( )