---
product_id: 12674213
title: "Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe Hardcover – Special Edition, January 21, 2014"
brand: "simon winder"
price: "21139 Ft"
currency: HUF
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.hu/products/12674213-danubia-a-personal-history-of-habsburg-europe-hardcover-special-edition
store_origin: HU
region: Hungary
---

# Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe Hardcover – Special Edition, January 21, 2014

**Brand:** simon winder
**Price:** 21139 Ft
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Danubia: A Personal History of Habsburg Europe Hardcover – Special Edition, January 21, 2014 by simon winder
- **How much does it cost?** 21139 Ft with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hu](https://www.desertcart.hu/products/12674213-danubia-a-personal-history-of-habsburg-europe-hardcover-special-edition)

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- simon winder enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    The author doesn't know how to use commas.
  

*by L***A on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 7, 2023*

Simon Winder's lengthy and complex sentence structures -- minus the necessary commas -- make his book difficult to read. The many musical references are distracting as well, unless you are a music aficionado. However, the well researched facts about the Austro-Hungarian Empire from birth to death are fascinating. Central Europe's history of bloody conflict is on full display in the book. It's a miracle that the EU was ever born.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Worth it for the "why WW I" chapter
  

*by D***E on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 24, 2014*

Well, Simon Winder is....what he is.  This isn't history, and it isn' memoirs.  But it is worthwhile.  It is like having a very enthusiastic, somewhat dotty history teacher give you the benefit of his enthusiasms, his knowledge and his perspective -- which is certainly worth s great deal.  Personally, i find his demotic style somewhat off-putting, but it does move along.  MOST IMPORTANT, I recommend his last couple of chapters on the coming of WW I -- here, Winder presents a nuanced and persuasive "big picture" view of the causes of the war that, despite its breezy tone, actually rocked me back on my heels a bit (after having read some more conventional approaches, such  as Otte, Clark and others). Not to hide the biscuit -- his point is simple: once Wilhelm II refused to renew the Bismarck "Reinsurance Treaty" between Germany and Russia, Russia naturally entered into an alliance with France.  At that point, Germany -- almost putting aside whether the UK entered the war or not -- had no good options; certainly not the Schlieffen Plan, which Winter demolishes with some clever sarcasm that -- again -- makes you wonder if the academic historians aren't wandering about in their own house of mirrors.  The fact that the Germans ALMOST defeated France quickly in 1914 as they did in 1870 makes it difficult in retrospect to see how bizarre the "defeat France quickly, then turn east to Russia" approach was (though, after the Franco-Russian alliance, it may have been Germany's ONLY chance to win if it went to war).  Anyway, while I didn't find Winder's potted history of the pre-1866 Habsburgs very enlightening, his chapters on the coming of WW I should be read (it will take 20 minutes) by anyone who is plowing through Sleepwalkers, July Crisis etc.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Winder touches on the core problems of the human race with humility and rare insight.
  

*by W***M on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 26, 2015*

Historians claim objectivity in their writings, but many if not most are actually hugely subjective even if it's subconsciously. They will, of course deny this vociferously. Many factors influence this often obvious subjectivity, including the writer's nationality, ethnicity, lifelong brainwashing on a particular slant in their view of historic events and their religion or lack thereof. Winder however reveals not even a pretense of just presenting the facts. His research especially on the personal lives and personas of the Hapsburgs provide the reader with a viewpoint rarely seen in so-called objective history. The most important theory, and I use this term in a scientific sense, I took from this book is that  most of our history for better or worse, usually the latter, resulted from the personalities of tribal, national and continental leaders who were outright insane, had severe personality disorders, had very low IQ's or were just plain greedy and power hungry. The inbreeding of the Hapsburgs certainly compounded this problem producing emperors and other royalty, with only one or two exceptions, who weren't fit to lead a a pack highway robbers, e.g. W Bush, let alone an empire. As horrible as Alexander "the Great" (who was little more than an egomanical butcher, albeit a very talented one) Genghis Khan, Hitler and Stalin were, the "nobility"  of the Holy Roman Empire often made them look like  minor serial killers.Few books touch on core problems of the human race and its capacity for horror and temper it with sudden, surprising injections of humor and often fascinating asides -- which, incidentally, I never considered irrelevant to the current discussion -- and, importantly, a readable style.  ...Wm. Jones

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*Product available on Desertcart Hungary*
*Store origin: HU*
*Last updated: 2026-02-03*