Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book
Review: A college professor recommended this to me so I read it in about a day. It is very interesting how Morton weaves history into some sort of a novel that's very easy to read. Inspired by the death of his uncle in World War I, Morton writes about the history and the climax leading up to the very moment when the Crown Prince Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated by a Serbian terrorist youth.

Morton explains the nasty relationship with the Hapsburg Empire (that includes Austria) and the lower Slavic nations and the growing animosity between them. This is a great book for history buffs. My only complaints are that there aren't any citations in the book and that the friendship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud don't seem to have anything to do with the story itself.

Rating:
Summary: A cosmopolitan city.
Review: A wonderful book written about the cosmopolitan city of Vienna before the outbreak of WWI. Morton's style of writing makes this an enjoyable read this is not dry history. In 1913 Vienna was host to men who would make an indelible impression on the 20th century. Just to name a few, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Hitler, Tito, Freud, and the Hapsburg Royal family all within one square mile of each other. Morton gives a good portrayal of the lives of these men during their formative time spent in Vienna. He also gives a good account of the tension between Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand who wanted to reform the Austro-Hungarian Empire to include the room for nationalist aspirations of the Slavs, and Emperor Franz Joseph who wanted to maintain the status quo. I t makes one wonder how European history might have been different if Franz Ferdinand had not been assassinated and was given the chance to reform the Empire.

As a retired Army officer and political philosopher,I recommend this book to all who are interested in history of WWI or to those who want to learn more about the "gilded age" of Europe.

Rating:
Summary: Read Now to Find Out How Wars Get Started.
Review: Choosing to focus on just two climactic years, Morton manages to recreate not only the splendor of the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the vibrant intellectual and cultural life of Vienna, the seething nationalism of the Balkans, the Machiavellian intrigue among the political rulers of the European nations and Russia, and the human frailties of the seemingly larger-than-life characters presented here. Best of all, Morton is rigorously selective in his choice of detail, bringing to life the activities of a broad cross-section of Viennese society in 1913-1914, while simultaneously recreating the intellectual ambience which made possible the later rise of some of the most influential leaders of the twentieth century--Trotsky, Stalin, Adler, Freud, Jung, Lenin, Hitler, Tito, and a host of others.

Morton's seriousness of purpose and his scholarship are undeniable, yet his primary contribution here, it seems to me, is his ability to make these historical personages come to life, to make the reader feel that they were real, breathing humans with both virtues and frailties, and not the cardboard characters one finds so often in history books. Vienna, too, has a real heart, albeit beating in ¾ time. From its masquerades and balls by all classes of society, to its revolutionary movements, innumerable newspapers and pamphlets, lively coffee houses, and seemingly endless games of political oneupsmanship, one feels the ferment and activity which must lead, eventually, to change. The liveliness of the city is a visual and intellectual contrast to the formality and frailty of Emperor Franz Josef, making the twilight of his empire understandable and its demise inevitable. But even the demise is stylish--as "The World War [came] to the city by the Danube, [it came] dressed as a ball. Tra-la...Hurrah!"

Rating:
Summary: How everyone and everything came together in Vienna
Review: Frederic Morton is one of the outstanding historians of our time. He makes connections between people and places and large world events in a way only matched by CV Woodward. Thunder at Twilight makes Vienna, at the outbreak of WWI, understandable and very real. You must read this book!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: In the first pages of this book, author Frederic Morton reveals the reason he has such an interest in Austrian history. His grandfather died in World War I and his father came to the United States from Vienna. If you read books such as Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, you can't help but hate the Habsburg monarchy that ruled for centuries over Austria and much of Eastern Europe. The Austrians shamelessly mistreated their subjects, using divide and conquer strategies to keep their client states in line. The Austrians also looted the distant reaches of their vast holdings for Austrian benefit. Many of the difficulties found in the Balkans today can be traced to the inept government of the Austrian Empire. That's one view. The other can be found in this exquisitely majestic book. This text is not a panegyric to Habsburg rule, however. Rather, it is a tribute to the fabulous city of Vienna during the waning days of empire, when World War I was looming on the horizon of time.

Vienna is presented as an international city that attracted numerous historical figures. According to Morton, within a period of months Vienna was home to Adolf Hitler, Josef Broz (known to history as Marshal Tito), Uncle Joe Stalin, Leon Trotsky and Sigmund Freud. These characters lived out their own private paths to destiny within blocks of each other. Morton really makes these people come alive with his narrative. We see Hitler in a homeless hostel where he has his own personal chair that no one dares to sit in and occasionally launches into oratorical tirades against Jews and foreigners. Tito works at a car factory and likes to scope out chicks on the weekends (which is much easier to do when you don't have a chest full of medals!). Trotsky indulges himself in French literature and lively debate at the cafes, where he has a brief encounter with a dour Stalin. Sigmund Freud engages in an intellectual war with Carl Jung and writes numerous papers in psychology that would come to form much of what the common man knows about that discipline. Stalin arrives to research a pamphlet before returning to Russia and a three-year stretch in Siberia. What all of these stories ultimately prove is that Vienna was truly a hub of Europe and an important city of the time. It's still pretty neat to think about all of these huge figures moving about in the same city at the same time, though. Morton shows us how almost all of these figures were influenced by their time in Vienna. Hitler talks about it in Mein Kampf and Trotsky wrote about it as well. About the only figure that doesn't seem to be changed is Stalin, who stomps and grumbles about in shabby peasant clothes. It was interesting to learn that Stalin beat Lenin at chess seven times in a row, though!

What Morton succeeds in doing with this book is humanizing history. Today we only see Hitler in old newsreel footage screaming his head off at rallies. In Vienna, Hitler often gave money to his fellow boarders who can't afford food or rent. Sigmund Freud, who always looks so stodgy in those old pictures, loved to hunt mushrooms with his children while wearing outlandish local garb. Even the Habsburgs are painted with a brushstroke of decency. Franz Ferdinand, the sullen heir to the throne who was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914, comes off much better here than in most history books. Morton paints him as a dove surrounded by hawks. Franz constantly tries to avert war, especially with Serbia. Of particular note is the relationship the archduke had with his wife, Sophie Chotek. Chotek, who Morton constantly refers to as "morganatic," was not of the right blood to marry a Habsburg heir. She rarely got to share in the royal activities, and when she did, courtiers of the archduke's father, Franz Joseph, belittled her endlessly.

The end of the book shows us the dramatic countdown to war, as the archduke and his wife drive to their deaths and into history. The account of the assassination is very interesting and well worth the read. I feel it rivals the Kennedy assassination in terms of sheer incompetence and idiocy. When someone tosses a bomb at the archduke's motorcade, these morons actually continue the procession! Franz Ferdinand's security detail should have been shot for this action alone. Of course, the procession wasn't stopped and the result was war. The whole mess reeks of conspiracy.

This is an excellent book that can really spark an interest in history. Morton uses lots of sources, such as newspapers, to convey the actual feel of the time. A few pictures thrown in helps to place faces with names. Often, Morton tells us what the weather was like on a certain day before he unfolds the events. This gives the text an insight often missing in scholarly accounts. We can almost see things happening. That being said, this really isn't a book I would use for research. It is more of an interpretative text to provide entertainment. If I were teaching a class on this time period, I would assign this book in conjunction with other, more serious books. Very nice, indeed!

Rating:
Summary: This book is great, glad I got it; however...
Review: Something is missing. The book was a fantastic read. I would have given it 5 stars and a "Bravo!" - but some things are not mentioned that are needed. I read, elsewhere, about the "blank check" from the Germans that encouraged the Austrians to start a war with the Serbs. This would lead to something bigger for the Germans, against the French. Also, my previous readings indicated that Tisza and the Hungarians were not interested in war and urged the Austrians to offer, at least, an ultimatum. The Austrians, then came up with the "ultimatum/non-ultimatum". The author gives the appearance that Germany was passive in the whole situation and did not want to get involved. No mention is made of the "blank check". The only mention Tisza gets is that Franz Ferdinand did not like him and that the Hungarians abused the Serbs within their land. Nothing was mentioned, in particular, of the Tri-Monarchy that Franz Ferdinand had thought-up. I feel that the author left out some important things.

Other than these points, I thought the book was a really good read to learn about some really sinister people running around Vienna before the outbreak of war. Great information was presented on Princip and, of course, the relationship between Franz Ferdinand and Franz Joesph.

I will read further for information about the above things not mentioned in this book. 4 3/4 stars.

Rating:
Summary: More than 5 stars!
Review: This is a favorite of mine, all the info about the Fin du siecle, Rudolph, and why we went into World War 1, and why some young people don't make it somehow!

Amazing and amazingly entertaining book, very very higly recommended. I dont have anything to add to the info of the book itself, go for the editorial reviews.



Rating:
Summary: Freud, Stalin, Trotsky, Hitler & Franz Ferdinand?
Review: Twenty months before the First World War began, many of the centuries most powerful and influential figures unknowingly shared a city: Stalin, Trotsky, Freud, Tito, Hitler, Kafka, Franz-Ferdinand. The city: elegant, opulent, imperial Vienna.

Morton does a masterful job of describing the dark underbelly of a city at the brink of change, in the twilight of its splendor. The writing is supurb - you can almost taste the Sachertorte and smell the Cappucino on Ringstrasse as revolutionaries plot and intellectuals argue. Morton truly has captured the flavor of an age that is no-longer in a marvellous telling of a true story.

If you have ever visited Vienna (or better yet are about to for the first time) this is a must - read book. It would also be a good "cold-winter night" book or conversely a jaunty summer read. I enjoyed the book very much and I highly recommend it.