The fancy of going to Vienna next summer crossed my mind more than once so I decided to pick this up just to get some more information on the City of Music. It's a very concise book that can be easily toted around in a bag or pocket, which I immediately liked because should I go I would want to keep it on hand. I liked the layout for places to stay, going from campgrounds to hostels, to the hotels, going from one star to five. It has a great listing for restaurants and has the city pretty much covered in respects to places to visit and a calendar of events, which makes planning a trip a lot easier. The history was a nice added bonus for someone not knowing about the city, as well as historical people that spent time/grew up in Vienna (ie: Mozart). Colour photos and things such as political mindset, attitude towards children, the legal system are nice touches as well. However, take the prices with a grain of salt, especially with the new introduction of the Euro.

The 2nd edition of Lonely Planet's guide to Vienna is a welcome edition to the guidebooks on the Austrian capital. Of course it contains the usual information: how to get there, how to get around, and what there is to see. But this book also tells the reader about other important facts such as the climate, history, government/politics, bicycling, and farily current email and web addresses. The Lonely Planet guide also has lots of interesting tidbits of information that most of the more staid guides do not, such as info on Lauda Air, gay Vienna, The Third Man (movie), and Viennese actionism. The maps are excellent, and prices (as of 1998) are listed for most attractions. I doubt that a more versatile guide exists.

"The genius is not the product of his age, is not to be explained by it, and we do him no honour if we attempt to account for him by it." -- Otto Weininger, Sex and Character, Part II, Chap 5.

...but explain him by his age is exactly what Sengoopta tries to do for Weininger. The book helps to situate Weininger in the scientific millieu of his time, as the Harrowitz and Hyams collection (-Jews and Gender: Responses to Otto Weininger-) earlier tried to do against a literary backdrop, and though we are grateful for these efforts, both fail to come terms with the seriousness of Weininger's philosophy. They repeat many of the usual dismissive assessments, either by trying to explain him as an unpleasant social phenomenon or personal pathology. We are still waiting for a genuinely philosophical exposition of Weininger's importance to moral philosophy in general and gender-based moral theories, in particular. We strongly suspect, for example, that radical feminism will one day discover a curious allegiance with Weininger. (Janik's -Essays on Wittgenstein and Weininger- in places, however, hints in a more thoughtful direction.)

dr. sengoopta's well researched book is the strange story of otto weininger, a jew, who wrote a treatise that 'proved' women and jews did not possess a rational and moral self; that they did not deserve or need equality, not to mention liberty, that only male aryans should be in charge of society. imagine a jew that hitler called 'wise'(though it is doubtful he ever read him) a jew that was throughly discredited following world war two as a racist and misogynist. then why read him? dr. sengoopta not only gives the reasons weininger is important in the understanding of ideas current in his time, but how to read him. afterall, this strange little man influenced (though not persuaded) freud, kafka, ludwig wittgenstein, the racist politics of vienna's mayor, karl leuger as well as literary figures such as james joyce and ford maddox ford, probably his most important contribution. his dramatic suicide, in beethoven's home, no less, made him the era's 'tragic genius'.(a concept karl kraus, the jewish critic, concurred). afterall, this was the age of arthur schnitzler (THE ROAD TO THE OPEN) when jewish intellectuals were attempting to find a role in viennese culture. for weininger it was an attempt to become GERMAN (he loved wagner)-the extreme path to the open. by becoming a protestant he would not only reject multicultural austria but become more german than the most ardent pan german. his only book, SEX AND CHARACTER, was his phd dissertation-an attempt to analyze the differences between men and women by the use of biology,science, psychology and humanistic social reform. a fanatic follower of kant, weininger believed only aryan men possessed a hyperemperical soul while desiring to resolve the woman question by redefining hysteria and devaluing motherhood. in his attack on women and modernism weininger saw the jews as the symbol of mammon, modernism and the feminization of culture. weininger's ideal society was a sterile dystopia where women would lose their sexuality and deserve to be politically equal...of course the human race would die out, but in pure kantian thought this minor difficulty would not matter, for weininger believed that sexual desire-and feminine beauty is only a creation of man's love-forces man to degenerate. the only true love is plutonic in the tradition of dante's beatrice. one of the more enlightened aspects of weininger is his belief in universal bisexuality, "sexual intermediacy", that is to say, all humans are a mixture of the masculine and the feminine in differing degrees. however, the most gifted woman can only be 50% masculine, thus inferior to the most effeminate male. weininger even proposed a mathematical formula to achieve the perfect conjunction. yes,even he realized that despite his ideal society males WOULD seek out women and mate...one could only hope to achieve the most satisfactory results through science. most of weininger's thought is absurb if not discusting to modern readers. Little gems such as 'all women are amoral',"are logically insane', "men have better memories","women can not differenate between feeling and thought", that they have no soul,and on and 0n AD NAUSEAM. perhaps even more repulsive is his racist ideas. naturally he swallowed houston chamberlain, artur de gobineau, wagner and schopenhauers antisemetic drivel and adapted it to his treatise. was this self-hatred? not according to dr. sengoopta, sengoopta believes since weininger's father was antisemetic that it is doubtful weininger had any jewish idenity to start with. weak in some areas but well read in the science of his day, weininger's book is a melange of science, biology, philosophy, cultural politics and personal anxiety. ironically, despite his contempt for women in the reproduction of the species woman is supreme. even weininger recognized bachofen's dictim: "the father is always a juristic fiction, whereas motherhood is a physical fact". with all his intellectual twists and turns weininger could never explain away woman's power over life, men and creativity.

If you are involved with graphics or just love beautiful imaging, this is the ultimate book. When I found it on the shelf amidst a hundred similar books of highest-quality design work, this was the one that most attracted me. You really have to see it to know how beautiful it is

At last -- a USEFUL coffee table book. These guys at Vienna Paint really have it together, and they aren't shy about telling the reader how they composed all these amazing images! Get a copy immeidately, if not sooner!You'll be glad you did!

Anybody interested in Viennese culture before World War I and between the wars ought to read this book. It portrays the atmosphere of a city that was one of the most influential centers of European culture, where contributions by the Jewish community were epoch-making and masterful. A must for anybody wanting to understand the marvel that was Europe.

Ah, Schnitzler. That magnificent chronicler of old Imperial Vienna - the Vienna of sweet young things (usually working- or middle-class), slightly neurotic but charming young men (usually upper-class), and their fleeting love-affairs, terminated so easily once ennui starts to exceed pleasure, the Vienna of walks in the Prater and talks in the cafes (ever so full of interesting artistic types), the Vienna where the nostalgic strains of Johann Strauss provide a suitably bittersweet accompaniment to the beginning (or the ending) of the abovementioned love-affairs ...

All of which occur in The Road into the Open; nevertheless, the Vienna depicted here does not only consist of only the sweetened tableaux so frequently dismissively (and unfairly) attributed to Schnitzler. The easy charm of the Vienna here is extant, but by no means idealised - it masks the artistic impotence that seems to afflict nearly all of its inhabitants, haunted as they are by the sense of being epigonal; grandiose artistic projects are continually being talked about, but never executed, whether because of an aversion to actually setting them down on paper, or simply because of what is commonly called a "lack of inspiration". More sinisterly, it also masks the habitual anti-Semitism of what one of the characters wittily calls those of "indigenous physiognomy"; though written in 1908, there are passages that almost foreshadow the rise of Nazism. Schnitzler subtly intertwines the study of the individual with ruthlessly objective social commentary and evocation of the atmosphere (both artistic and political) of fin de siecle Vienna, to produce a fascinating book highly recommended not only for those with an interest in the period, but also for anyone who fancies a thought-provoking book

This book is an important contribution to Holocaust studies. Mrs. Sekules provides an excellent first hand account of life for a "typical" Jewish family in Vienna before and during the rise of Nazism. We become witnesses to the realization that escape is the only choice. We then follow the author on a harrowing journey deep into the Russian steppes as they fight to survive in a variety of work camps. Finally we learn how this family returns to Europe and rebuilds their lives and in the United Kingdom.

The book is written in straight-forward prose which has the ring of authenticity. The author is not asking for our pity. Rather, as stated in the introduction, she is adding more details to our collective memory of these horrific events that we may honor the victims, celebrate the survivors, and prevent another Shoah in the future.

This is easy reading for middle and high school children seeking to understand more about the Shoah and is a good addition to a school, Temple, or Church library.

In 1916, Edith Sekules was born into a Jewish family as part of an established and flouring Viennese community of almost 200,000 Jews. Today that same community is numbered at only a few thousands. Most of those with whom Edith grew up with were slaughtered in the holocaust of World War II. In 1938, together with her husband Kurt and her four month old daughter, Edith escaped to Estonia. There they eked out a living until 1941 when they were labeled "enemy aliens" and interned in Siberia by the Russians. In Surviving The Nazis, Exile And Siberia, Edith reveals in candid and vivid detail what her life of confinement was like, and how only their good health and optimism enabled the family to survive in harsh conditions. This is a story of a seven year exile spend in the theater of war, three camps, and a 3,350-mile journey home. After the way Edith helped to create a knitwear company in Northern Ireland and she went on to world-wide success in that endeavor. Surviving The Nazis, Exile And Siberia is more than just another indictment of holocaust era atrocity -- it is also a testament to the endurance and resilience of the human spirit, and that the greatest revenge against those who do us wrong, and the finest memorial we can provide to those who did not survive, is to go on ourselves and live a full, rewarding, compassionate life.

I like the Vienna because it helps me to win! There are fantastic attacking lines such as the wonderful sounding 'Frankenstein-Dracula Attack' and I am in a quieter mood I can play 1 e4 e5 Nc3 Nf6 3 g3 to play safe, positional chess. There are eight chapters and seventy-seven annotated games that help to understand the opening. The English master Gary Lane knows what he is talking about and I love the ways he shows 'tricks and traps' for people playing colors Black or White. There are lots of strong US players who have successfully used the opening such as Benjamin and Shabalov that is good news. The introduction offers a repertoire for players of different standards and styles. Thankfully, there is an excellent historical background, which makes a change from other publishers that I won't mention. It says on the back of the book that Lane has already written twelve books and judging by this effort I want more of the same thing.

To this 7-book author, a high school chess coach and tournament chess player this book provides the best format for a chess-opening book I've ever seen. The games are clear examples of the opening lines and the book's layout makes the material easy to digest. This book will help you win more games as you turn games away from the heavily studied Lopez lines. You will learn about the positional lines of the Vienna as well as the fun-to-play Vienna Gambit 3. f4, which this book makes appear much safer than the King's Gambit. I am so impressed with this book that I'm looking for Lane's other books.

Though this book is better in the original German (it loses something in the translation), Hamann is a diligent researcher who has unearthed some new facts about Hitler's period in Vienna. She uses primary sources and archive material without merely rehashing what other biographies have written in the past. The Franz Jetzinger book from the 50's is still the standard, definitive version of Hitler's Vienna years, but Hamann does a nice job and weaves in some new material. She also adroitly dismisses some claims from other German authors who have inaccurately written about Hitler's relationship with early roommate, August (Gustl) Kubizek. Thankfully, Hamann doesn't indulge in psychoanalyzing Hitler, which is sort of a deranged cottage industry amongst more recent Hitler biographers.

One small criticism is that Hamann veers away from Hitler too frequently. There is a plethora of material about Vienna's political climate in the 1910's, its mayor, the origin of anti-Semitism in the city and other ancillary details. Though all of this is relevant to Hitler, one wishes she would have stayed a bit more on topic. Still, the book is interesting, informative and devoid of errors. If you want to learn more about the young Hitler, this is an acceptable choice.

I thought I knew a lot about Adolf Hitler's life, even his youth, until I stumbled upon this book. Hitler's Vienna provides a fascinating glimpse into the social, economic, and political milieu in which young Hitler found himself immersed when he came from the provinces to the capital of the crumbling Austro-Hungarian empire in order to pursue his dream of a career in art or architecture.
The book is really less about Hitler himself than about the forces which helped to shape his weltanschauung. Though he reportedly not an anti-Semite as a youth, it was in Vienna that Hitler learned the language of anti-semitism and nationalism.
As I engrossed myself in the book, my thoughts often wandered to comparing the identity politics and quota demands of Austro-Hungarian politicians with the increasing ethnic balkanization here in the United States and wondered whether such a man as Hitler could not one day spring from our political landscape.
One of the chief things I learned is that political and ethnic anti-Semitism was already a very potent force among both the more radical German-nationalist followers of Georg Schoenerer as well as among the more mainstream supporters of the enormously popular mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger. There was also a large groundswell of anti-Czech sentiment due to a heavy flow of Czechs into Vienna and to the mistreatment by Czechs of Germans in Sudetenland, a situation that Hitler was later to temporarily rectify.
The most surprising fact about Hitler brought to light is that he had many Jewish friends during his Vienna days. And I had to laugh at the part where he was described by a former fellow boarder at the men's hostel as having arrived wearing shoulder-length hair and wearing nothing but a coat because he didn't have a shirt.
Though the book adds much to what we knew of Hitler, it comes no closer than any other of really getting inside his head to explain his true motivations. After all, hundreds of thousands of Europeans hated Jews and lived through the same hardships that young Hitler did, but only Hitler took that extra step and made the end of Jewry his life's work. Nevertheless, this book is a very valuable study and is an easy and fascinating read that comes highly recommended to all those who yearn to know more about the life and times of Adolf Hitler.

Another Hitler book? Aren't there enough already? That's what I thought, til I read this. This is a fascinating story about the Vienna in which Hitler created his vision and plans. This is the Vienna of Adler and Freud, of coffee houses and intellectual debate. But did the young Hitler live in this mileiu from 1908 - 1913? Or was he relegated to Vienna's lower class and working class neighborhoods. What was life like there among the poor, single men? Were there any Jewish professors at the Visual Arts school he attended? (no) With the newly won right to vote, what kind of pan-German politicians caught the attention of the poor masses and of a young Hitler? What books and newspapers would he have read? How did Vienna's architecture influence Hitler's ideas symbolic art? How did Georg Schonerer affect Hitler's later ideas? Is this where he learned about anti-Semitism? A fascinating read that just draws you in.

You only have to read the flap of the book to know the plot, the entire plot, down to the very last page. For those not familiar with the history of the rise of the Nazis and the personal life of Hitler, this seems to me to be a mistake. There are many writers who can announce where they are headed and still rivet the reader's attention, but Nagorski isn't one of them. Too often, he feels compelled to pause to explain references (to German films, politicians) when it would have been less disruptive to avoid them altogether. Nagorski's strength is in his description of place and politics, but the personal, the trifles and insights that breathe characters to life, elude him. Oddly enough, the character that Nagorski manages to evoke best is Hitler himself. Praise must be given for keeping him posied between politician and obsessive, even the ... intentions ring true. With such a wonderful choice of subject, it seems disappointing to have emerged with a novel that is mostly lacking in both suspense and heart.

I derive no greater reading pleasure than when I learn something while being highly entertained. Andrew Nagorski's Last Stop Vienna is an amazing novel that manages to teach as well as engage. The rise and rule of Adolf Hitler is the most notorious tale of the twentieth century, yet how many people truly understand the dire social, economic, and political climate in 1920's and 1930's Germany that enabled the emergence of a man like Hitler? Perhaps better than any novelist in recent history, Nagorski does. Through the eyes of young and idealist Nazi Brownshirt, Karl Naumann, Nagorski tells a story that demonstrates in eerie and vivid detail how readily evil can rise out of desperation. Last Stop Vienna is not only a compelling book but also an important one. We live in an age where the conditions in many countries throughout the world are jarringly parallel to those of pre-World War II Germany. It would behoove us all to gain an understanding of such matters. Andrew Nagorski has provided us a great service by making it easy and enjoyable to edify his readers using his 288-page gem, Last Stop Vienna.

Last Stop Vienna is historical fiction at its finest. It is so rare to find a journalist/historian who is also a wonderful storyteller with a masterful gift for prose. Andrew Nagorski is such a writer. He crafts a mesmerizing tale that not only entertains but educates. Nagorski's encyclopedic knowledge of a Germany ravaged by the Treaty of Versailles combined with his familiarity of character and place lends an authenticity to the novel that is both captivating and illuminating. Add to that a brilliant imagination and a lyrical ability to compose a compelling and original work of fiction from recent historical events and you have an extraordinary novel. Last Stop Vienna is a very special book by an informed and talented novelist. I recommend it highly.

This is an absolute must-read for anyone who rides dressage horses. It's like a basic textbook. For the earthbound, or for the rent-a-pony crowd, it will be a crashing bore. Podhajsky is not an easy-reading "how to ride" book. This is a very technical manual for serious riders, and it is engrossing. Podhajsky's attitude toward positive reinforcement as a training aid is right on, as is his discussion of how the training of horses was often misdirected in the past. My only complaint is that I wish there were more illustrations.

In my opinion this is one of the finest horsemanship novels ever written. Alois Podhajsky, dressage icon and former head of the Spanish Riding School, has created an exemplary literary piece that few horse books ever come close to. The book is divided into six chapters; each chapter has smaller subsections for easy referencing. Although younger readers may find this book to be "long" or "boring" due to its eloquent vocabulary, any serious horseman (or woman) will find this to be an exceptional novel. For people with little time I would recommend reading small sections at a time. The author explains so much that the reader should reflect on what he or she is learning, not just try to "cram" through it. The explanations in this book resulted in a marked improvement in my own skills, and I often refer other riders back to it whenever they are having trouble. Podhajsky makes even the most complex dressage manuvers easy to comprehend. I especially liked the way that he formed two different chapters on "the training of the horse" and "the training of the rider." By breaking the two concepts apart, a rider is able to first read of what the horse should be doing and then what he or she should be doing at the same time. Other chapters are about the principles of riding, definitions and key concepts, saddles and bridles, and the Spanish Riding School. The photographs and drawings in the novel are logical and illustrate the points wonderfully. Wise is the rider (even Western riders will benefit from the control and balance exercises) that buys this book; it is the perfect companion to horsemanship lessons.

Podhajsky does a marvelous job of detailing the Classical dressage theory of the Spanish Riding School. He starts with a brief history of dressage & ends with airs above the ground. This is a must-read for any serious student of dressage. This book will help the reader understand the mechanics & methodology behind this extaordinarily successful system.

I am an experienced reader of history. Mr. Dallas' work is indeed meticulously documented, but that very meticulosity renders his story line exceedingly difficult to follow. Most of the book attempts to help the reader understand the antecedents of Waterloo through the Congress of Vienna. The account of the Congress was disjointed. Characters were introduced with little context.

The description of Waterloo itself seemed to me to be a very short leap preceeded by far too long a run.

I just didn't like the book. It did not capture my interest and drag me to the end . . . it was a tough slog.

Congress of Vienna is always obscured by the Battle of Waterloo, probably the most overrated of all events in world's history. The diplomatic conference held in Austrian capital few months earlier, although less spectacular than Napoleon's last battle, had more lasting impact on the future of Europe. While political and diplomatic intrigues might not arouse readers' imagination with same intensity as the drama that unfolded in Belgian battlefields, book by Gregor Dallas actually turns out to be not only very informative but also a very exciting and entertaining read. Mr. Dallas approaches this subject by putting the Congress in the broader context of early 19th Century Europe and treating the conference as nothing more than a chapter in the story that began with Napoleon's abdication in Spring of 1814. Diplomatic drama that occurred in Vienna is accompanied with short biographies of all major participants, as well as numerous vignettes, anecdotes and accounts of economic, social and political conditions in major European capitals. The well-known protagonists of these events - Alexander, Metternich, Castlereagh, Talleyrand and Napoleon - are portrayed with great deal of detail, but even the minor or less known characters receive the same treatment. Love life of European elite is given the same attention as the diplomatic intrigues, and in many ways reader, as well as the characters, can't make a clear distinction between the two. In segments that deal with British internal politics reader might even find some interesting parallels with most recent events in Britain, thus making this book much closer to the modern audience than its subject might indicate. Because of all that, this book is not only very informative, but also very entertaining and exciting. However, at times a reader might get impression that British politics and British personalities receive too much attention at the expense of rest of Europe. I was also somewhat disappointed when I didn't find the actual text of the treaty. However, despite those minor flaws this book is a must-read for anyone interested in early 19th Century Europe or foundations of modern diplomacy.

Though the abdication, exile, return and ultimate fall of Napoleon is well covered by a vast range of both popular and scholarly histories, less is available to the general reader on the political and diplomatic manoeuvrings of 1814-15, usually under the generic title of "The Congress of Vienna." This colourful historical narrative, which is enlivened with countless vignettes and anecdotes, brings the whole period to life. While Napoleon, for once, is a mainly background figure, albeit a menacing one, three larger than life characters dominate the story - Metternich, Tallyrand and Alexander I - but it is to Mr.Dallas's credit that he breathes life and interest into the fourth main player, Castlereagh, a much less charismatic personality. The secondary cast includes Britain's Prince Regent, France's Louis XVIII, the monarchs of Prussia and Austria, Wellington and Blucher, Austria's spy-network (with the ace spy still today identified only as "**"" ),a host of mistresses and courtesans (often closely related, despite differing political affiliations) and a plethora of diplomats, while the walk-ons range from Ludwig van Beethoven to minor Austrian civil servants. A surprise is the extent to which the gouty and corpulent Louis XVIII, briefly returned from his travels, only to be sent packing again within months, emerges as curiously attractive and sympathetic. As in his splendid biography of Clemanceau, Mr.Dallas excels in breathing life and interest into bygone crises - notably, in this case, the near collision between Austria, Priussia and Russia over the fate of Saxon. A particular triumph of the book is the extent to which the climax of Waterloo is not allowed to dominate the narrative to the detriment of less well-known events. For the general reader interested in the Napoleon period this book is indeed a treat - highly recommended.