The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1550-1700: An Interpretation

by R.J.W. Evans

The most significant contribution in any language to the history of early modern Austrian Habsburgs.

Genres: History

556 pages, Paperback

First published March 22, 1984

About the author

Professor emeritus at the university of Oxford, Robert John Weston Evans is a British historian specialising in the post-medieval history of central and Eastern Europe.

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the specialist, three stars for the layperson (I include myself in the latter).
Comprehensive and dense, this is probably best read by someone already armed with a firm, unflaccid grasp on the historical nuance of Central Europe and the slow rise of the happenin' Hapsburgs. The level of detail and assumed knowledge is both striking and alarming and I found myself often lost and bewildered and turning to other indices for clarification.
That said, Evans does his damnedest to link together all the disparate peoples and places and cultures, parallel to all kinds of political, religious, and scientific developments to make a nice panorama. Too bad it couldn't be condensed down to less than 500 freakin' pages!
Maybe find something shorter, Hapsy virgins?

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curiously, many historians have tried to explain the decline and expiration of the Habsburgs, but the family’s rise to power seems not to have been similarly examined. Evans bases his work solidly on primary sources in the period of the Central European Counter-Reformation. He also presents a balanced view of 16th century monarchy, since the consolidation of the Habsburg state was essentially the result of a skillful series of bilateral agreements between greater and lesser rulers. This highly regarded work received several major awards and has established itself as mandatory reading for any serious student of early modern history.

[History teacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pro českého čtenáře nepostradatelná kniha, která zahrnuje české země do kontextu dějin habsburského soustátí. Čte se dobře, ale uchovává si vysokou odbornost.