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The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power
From the intro:
“The studies of the author of this work, for the last ten years, in writing the "History of Napoleon Bonaparte," and "The French Revolution of 1789," have necessarily made him quite familiar with the monarchies of Europe. He has met with so much that was strange and romantic in their career, that he has been interested to undertake, as it were, a biography of the Monarchies of Continental Europe—their birth, education, exploits, progress and present condition. He has commenced with Austria.
There are abundant materials for this work. The Life of Austria embraces all that is wild and wonderful in history; her early struggles for aggrandizement—the fierce strife with the Turks, as wave after wave of Moslem invasion rolled up the Danube—the long conflicts and bloody persecutions of the Reformation—the thirty years' religious war—the meteoric career of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. shooting athwart the lurid storms of battle—the intrigues of Popes—the enormous pride, power and encroachments of Louis XIV.—the warfare of the Spanish succession and the Polish dismemberment—all these events combine in a sublime tragedy which fiction may in vain attempt to parallel.”
“The studies of the author of this work, for the last ten years, in writing the "History of Napoleon Bonaparte," and "The French Revolution of 1789," have necessarily made him quite familiar with the monarchies of Europe. He has met with so much that was strange and romantic in their career, that he has been interested to undertake, as it were, a biography of the Monarchies of Continental Europe—their birth, education, exploits, progress and present condition. He has commenced with Austria.
There are abundant materials for this work. The Life of Austria embraces all that is wild and wonderful in history; her early struggles for aggrandizement—the fierce strife with the Turks, as wave after wave of Moslem invasion rolled up the Danube—the long conflicts and bloody persecutions of the Reformation—the thirty years' religious war—the meteoric career of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. shooting athwart the lurid storms of battle—the intrigues of Popes—the enormous pride, power and encroachments of Louis XIV.—the warfare of the Spanish succession and the Polish dismemberment—all these events combine in a sublime tragedy which fiction may in vain attempt to parallel.”
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
444 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1859
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About the author
John S.C. Abbott
283 books25 followersJohn Stevens Cabot Abbott (Andover Theological Seminary; Bowdoin College, 1825) was a historian, Congregationalist pastor, and pedagogical writer. With his brothers, including Gorham and Jacob Abbott, he was a co-founder of Abbott Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 8, 2011
An antique book about the history of the Austrian Empire. Very dry, for the most part, with a long list of emperors sharing the same few Christian names and endless tens of thousands of battle casualties from 1300 to 1900. Most of this one is about Christian hatred and regal vanity, but both times I've read this book I've learned valuable background information for the understanding of other things I've read. I was given this and other old text books when the son of a neighbor of my great aunt died around 1974, and I first read this one in 1986.
December 8, 2012
I learned a good amount about Austrian/European history. Not too dry as far a history books go, but he couldn't go into great detail about each epoch since he covered 700 years of history in one book. Makes me want to read some more about the surrounding areas, specifically the centuries-long Turkish invasion of Hungary and how it impacted the region.
June 4, 2013
I enjoyed it. It is a lot of imformation, and at the end the figured run together a little bit. It is a good overview that is good for rousing your interest in the figures and help you decide where you want to dig deeper. It also helps give a good understanding of the Hapsburg house, which sort of requires this kind of broad sketch.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews