The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond

by Stephen O'Shea

“An entertaining, turbocharged race among the high mountain passes of six alpine countries.” ―Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book Review For centuries the Alps have been witness to the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers, and the dreams of engineers. In The Alps , Stephen O’Shea ("a graceful and passionate writer"― Washington Post ) takes readers up and down these majestic mountains. Journeying through their 500-mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia, he explores the reality behind historic events and reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture and society. 4 maps

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, France, Italy, Audiobook, Germany

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2017

Reviews

[Noah Goats · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle to this book calls it “A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi,” but this is highly misleading as this is absolutely not a history book; it’s a travel book. Not that there is anything wrong with travel books, but I would have appreciated more history and less boring description of the passing countryside and repeated descriptions of how frightened the author is of heights.

I don’t read a lot of travel writing, but I love the work of Bill Bryson. Bryson is very funny and he is highly skilled at finding and telling fascinating anecdotes. Stephen O’Shea is not particularly funny, and the anecdotes he has to share all seem sub par.

Maybe I’m making this book sound worse than it is. It’s not really bad. It’s mildly interesting and short enough to not entirely wear out its welcome. It certainly made me want to get back to the Alps.

[Susan Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuck with it 'till the end, but this book never really grabbed me. Loved the cover, & concept of armchair traveling thru the Alps was appealing, but ... I just found my eyes glazing over many times. Heidi museum was intriguing, & was surprised I had forgotten tragedies like cable car falling & tunnel fire killing many. (Library)

[Mark Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really fun and easy read, a travel log as light history. it made me want to visit every path and city he mentioned, to get a sense of each mountain. it made me homesick for altitude!

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 60% about the way through

i made a valiant attempt at finishing this, but couldn't stand to read the last 100 or so pages. was not a fan of this guy's attitude or sense of humour! please stop telling me you're afraid of heights or that you rented some fancy custom car every 5 pages!

i found some of his historical anecdotes to be on the edge of spreading misinformation as well, and when they weren't, they were weirdly shoehorned into the rest of the book. also! he wasn't at all consistent with his translations! sometimes he would translate the title of a french book into english, but a lot of the time he just didn't or left what someone said to him in french or italian completely untranslated!

i also didn't like the fact that the description lied to me. i was led to believe that he would be travelling through liechtenstein at some point but the only mention of it in the entire book was on a map where it was misspelled. i even skimmed the last 100 pages to see if he mentioned it there but no!

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Paige]

DNF at 4%

Writing style and (attempt at) humor not working for me.

1/20/23

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great combination of travelogue and history. I love the Alps and have the same combination of awe and terror the author has. So happy he articulated it and provided an absorbing history as well!

[Rāhul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen O'Shea writes an entertaining, witty travelogue through the Alps from west to east, stitching together destinations with literary, historical and geological references. I found the cover scenery of a train exiting an alpine tunnel arresting, but O'Shea spends his travels in a muscle car, not a train. The romance of a train journey is traded for a more intimate connection to the many passes the crisscross the alps and traverse the "lard line" between Italy and Northern Europe. The Alps were the first mountains that humans learned to look on as sublime, that "masculine" beauty infused with terror. The Himalayas may be higher and Antarctic mountains more remote, but the Alps remain the original mountain destination, catering first to the English, continental Europeans, Americans, Japanese, Chinese and more upwardly mobile travelers to come.

In the western Alps, O'Shea weaves together the destinations with 19th century English literature, in Italy with Risorgimento and later history, and in the German lands with the tragic 20th century history that was in some ways a culmination of the same romanticism that drove the earlier events. By the end of his journey, and ours through this book, the latest trudge up a pass reads tediously. The geological references were also not particularly enlightening. As a summer read to long for the cool mountain air without leaving the sizzling heat around you, or as a primer of the various alpine destinations to help plan a future trip, this book makes a satisfying read. However, it doesn't rise beyond that to be anything of lasting value.

[Adrian]

Trip through the Alps by the peripatetic O'Shea. I find descriptions of mountains pale very quickly fortunately the author moves from one place to another very quickly and treats subjects the same way. He finds something of interest at every stop from the flighty- Sherlock Holmes and Heidi to the serious- mountain climbing, Hitler's Berchtesgaden and Italian battles in WWI. He has a quick and agile sense of humour somewhat reminiscent of Paul Theroux. Enjoyable.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like they say, a great armchair travel. Filled with great historical stories and facts along the way it's a shame there's no shot in hell I'll be able to retain it all. I will say the descriptions of the hairpin turns, while thrilling in the beginning, became somewhat of a drag on the book by the end. Otherwise a great book.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. Great combination of history and traveloque

[Sandra Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plenty of details, lots of learning, tons of belly laughs, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. (A clearer map of the course would have been additive.)

[Brendan McDonnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining historical blurbs differentiating the separate Alps regions.

[J. Lee Hazlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stand-out book from Stephen O'Shea. I only recently learned about O'Shea from his history of the Cathars ("The Perfect Heresy"), and as soon as I finished that I wanted more. Sequels are often a let-down, but my second brush with Stephen O'Shea was anything but disappointing. The book delves into every possible aspect of the Alps, from geology to history, linguistics to food culture, and local idiosyncrasies to national prejudices. Every twist and turn in the road is presented with the same air of slightly dark humor that O'Shea used to such great effect in "Heresy," with some self-ribbing thrown in to lighten things up. A fast read, this book left me feeling perfectly sated at the end, with nothing missing and nothing extra.

[Michelle Ule · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing travelogue through the Alps, probably of interest mostly for those who love and/or have visited the Alps. I was surprised to realize how many of these towns and passes I have visited--but then, I spent a college summer with Swiss relatives in the Alps!

O'Shea covers several of our favorite spots--like the wonderful Iceman Museum in Bolzano and the glorious Dolomites, as well as Slovenia--with tidbits and passing remarks on the history and current situations in the beautiful towns and villages dotting the mountains.

He also makes pithy remarks about fellow tourists and debunks historic stories like whether or not St. Bernard dogs ever wore casks around the necks filled with brandy.

An easy read on a hot day in America, it took me back to fun memories and a sense of the chill that can come off those glaciers!

[Jeff Padmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

unfortunately this was a disappointing read, though my expectations were high. O’Sheas writing comes across as overindulgent and his attempts at clever humor fall flat. For the book’s fairly straight forward concept, it lacked substance (historical facts etc) in favor of the author’s distracting, excessive use of his vocabulary to embellish unnecessarily. It was tiresome trying to cut through the clutter to get to the point. This is not to say O’Shea is not a talented writer - he exhibits great prose and command over language but the ‘flair’ felt unnecessary in this case.

Having recently wrapped up Homo Sapiens and Homo Deus, I was expecting a similar “historical” examination with insightful writing. O’Sheas book reads more like a travel blog than history. It’s disappointing as there is so much depth to the topic which is glazed over.

As a Canadian immigrant to Austria now living in the heart of the Alps, I was excited to get better acquainted with my backyard but was left unfulfilled.

[Armelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meandering trip through the history and geography - and many, many hairpin turns - of the Alps, from Switzerland to Slovenia, although we don't see much of Slovenia!

The pace changes partway through as the history gives way more and more to the traveler's tale - which was more interesting to me.

While I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book, the maps weren't particularly helpful, which was a disappointment. I had a tough time figuring out the route. The "it's not that I'm afraid of heights, it's just that..." thing got old after a while.

...and I sorta hate to admit it, but I want to see Heidiland...

[Exapno Mapcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Goodreads First Reads review.

This could more accurately be described as a history and travelogue through the Alps. O’Shea goes through all of the major locales and tourist areas with a lighthearted ease and provides a wonderful tour guide to the majestic mountains.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a love-hate relationship with this book. Parts were 5-Star, others 3-Star.

The loves: This book is packed with history trivia. Simply skim the index to see the scope of history bits that it covers. The cover says “Hannibal to Heidi, but it’s broader than that…. It’s more like Iceman (3000 BC) to Today. Of course, the geologic history that’s mentioned is much older than the Iceman. It also delivers some insightful conclusions about the Alps and their function in the world. The author has some quick wit and brings levity to the subject.

The hates: The author’s tone! He’s trying to express his own human vulnerability: the smallness and insignificant-ness of a lone human among the massive mountains that shaped human history – and I get that important contrast. However, for someone who has the freedom from personal responsibilities (work/family), all while driving a muscle car in one of the prettiest world locations he sure does complain! I would give anything to be able to have a day to myself in the Alps (never mind the muscle car, the food, the tours, etc.) and if he is not complaining about heights, it’s Dutch campers, and if it’s not that, it’s the Asian tour groups, and if it’s not that… well, you get the idea. Too. Much. Complaining!

The central thesis of the book is that the Alps formed an incredible (physical) disruption that created a unique microcosm of human geography diversity. One side of the mountain pass is “this language, this food, this architecture, this culture” and the other side – just kilometers away - is completely different. Nowhere else do we see such major changes in such short distances! However, I ask myself, what if this approach (the mountain road trip) with the Himalayas or the Andes…. Might we see the same diversity outcomes there? (I volunteer to write that book!)

The Alps “is rough country, scarce in arable land and plentiful in unforgiving rock,” (pg. 53), and these rocks created gateways to the major Western civilization centers. The Alps are: the playground of the elite, the battle ground of the powerful, the graveyard of the defeated, a temple for those inspired, the incubator of new language, the creator of microculture, a feast for the day-dreamer, a haven for the loner, the inspiration for story-tellers and musicians, the site of engineering masterpieces, and perhaps most importantly, the soul of the Western World.

I spent a chunk of time in the Alps when I was younger. I agree with the author that “The Alps cannot be encompassed, tamed, understood – they surpass our powers and always will” (pg. 271). This book makes a solid and worthy attempt at understanding the Alps, and I’m glad I read it. Honesty, I wish I had read it before going to the Alps those decades ago. However, because of the author’s tone, I probably would have had a negative mindset upon arrival – and that would have been a shame.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I read this year, and I waited until December. O'Shea goes on a tour of the Alps, which sprawl "like a blanket" across the heart of Europe, from France to Slovenia, spending a great deal of time in those countries as well as Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy. It is partly a history but also a magnificent and charming travelogue, and explores how the perception of the Alps changed from the ancients, (who viewed mountains as remote and terrifying, useless for agriculture, and full of trolls, dragons and other mythical creatures) to the beginnings of the modern tourist industry in the nineteenth century spurred on, (naturally) by intrepid British climbers. Along the way in this book the reader gets a rundown on Mary Shelley, (whose 1817 book "Frankenstein" was written after an encounter with an Alpine storm on Lake Geneva) Heidi, the ways of the Swiss, (more complex language controversies that I had previously known) Hannibal and his elephants, Hitler, Napoleon and the savage fighting between Austria-Hungary and Italy during the first world war, fought in unbelievably difficult conditions on "the roof of Europe." O'Shea grumbles about Dutch camper vans clogging up the roads, shudders at the hairpin turns, marvels at the engineering of highways, bridges, tunnels and cable cars and enjoys the best food in the world, traveling between countries. Very fun.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book particularly appealed to me because of the cover, I like it. But it's actually not right, the writer moves not by train but by car (except for a short tourist trip). There should be a Renault Megane on the cover, as that's the car he drives, and he mentions it a lot.

He's very attached to that car, he hardly gets out of it. So no conquer of mountain walls other than in a motorized way in this book. He is driving around on panoramic roads and occasionally stops at museums, viewpoints or attractions and complains about the road.
(Coincidentally, I have also driven on most of the roads mentioned myself and I can say that the author is exaggerating a bit: these are fine and safe roads - even coach buses easily fit on these roads.)

What I also found a bit strange is that there are eight alpine countries, but the writer visits no more than six, he skips the smaller two. However, he does go to Heidi land. (Why? Seriously, why?) From Heidi land it's only a 10-minute drive to the Liechtenstein border - but he doesn't go there.

Basically, it's a book about a man who drives around the Alps during a summer holiday. Once you realize there's no deeper meaning behind this book, it's fine. The writer describes the environment in which he drives and shares interesting facts about the region. He knows how to instil the beauty of the area well and makes you want to go there (again).

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A travelogue with snippets of history as the author works his way West to East through the Alps. If you are really keen to learn about the Alps then you should consider this book, though I would never call it a must-read otherwise.

I must say I read this in German. So having been translated out of and back into English I am ready to admit that some humour or charm might have been lost.

I finished this with more of a sense of “good that is done”. It wasn’t horrible to read, but it was never that enticing either. It is hard to write a travel book with a constant theme that doesn’t start to get repetitive at some point – and this book was very much mountains and driving all the way so it was going to depend on the author clicking with me which sadly didn’t happen.

I much preferred the historical asides to the actual commentary on the author’s driving and interactions (though again maybe translation is to blame there).

A slight reduction in length to clean up some of the less interesting elements might have helped. If you edited out the endless hairpin corner comments it would be much leaner for a start….

If you are planning a trip in the region it can certainly be useful as a source of ideas. I scribbled a large number of place/mountain names down as I read through.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this travelogue about the Alps, which I was interested in and picked up when I saw it in the bookstore, since I'm going to be spending a couple of weeks in the French Alps in September (!) - it was a pretty easy-going, charming read about a bunch of places I've always wanted to go to. Here's my favorite passage:

"There is the princess of the moon, who came to marry a prince of these mountains. In her trousseau she brought to earth a brilliant moon flower, the edelweiss, to brighten the severity of the brooding peaks. But soon she fell ill, disheartened by the darkness of the mountains at night, so unlike those of the moon. The prince, in despair, took to wandering the forests of the kingdom. There he came across a Salwan, a cave-dwelling dwarf leader whose scattered people possessed magical powers. On hearing of the prince’s plight, the Salwan summoned his fellow dwarves together, and the next night they set to work. Standing on the jagged peaks, groups of Salwans captured the moonlight and wove it into a magical, glowing cloth, which they then draped over the mountains. This is why the Dolomites are also called the Pale Mountains. The moon princess, on seeing this transformation, was overjoyed, and her homesickness vanished."

[Pep Bonet · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I read a travel book and I had forgotten that they can be entertaining. The point is that the author should tell stories, either internal to the travel or external, things that happen the places visited.

I realise, upon reading the book, that I like to know the places described. That’s probably why I decided to buy the book in the first place during a stopover at Zürich airport, because I love the Alps and know much of them. Stopping at the Austrian border, to the East. And this shows. While enjoyed much the Swiss, French and Italian Alps, I found it less interesting when in Germany or Austria. Basically because I knew close to nothing and really nothing first-hand. On the other side, I don’t know Südtyrol or Friuli, even less Slovenia, and I was interested once more. Maybe because the stories were not so foreign to me. But let’s stop discussing the why.

The book is well written, with a good mastery of the language and very good documentation. The author can speak French, but is also sensitive to German, Italian, Slovenian and the Latin-derived languages in the Alps: Romansh, Ladin, Friulano. He is entertaining. He picks on the Dutch, but in a very English-Canadian way.

A nice moment spent with a book

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a perfect book to read by the wood stove in winter, with my smartphone next to me to look at maps and photos. O'Shea's narrative is full of historical and cultural material, presented with a mixture of awe and humor in a style that is engaging, sometimes irreverently poking fun at various nationalities and cultural practices (and himself) that had me laughing out loud from time to time, yet always grounded in the magnificence of the geography. Because I have been to several of the places O'Shea covered on his summer journey, his descriptions brought back memories and added depth and detail to my recollections. I would have appreciated the reading experience more had O'Shea included more of the actual road names of the routes he took, better maps and photographs. I compensated for this by the use of Google Maps, Google Images and Wikipedia. I especially loved the 360 degree panorama images I was able to access. The alps are indeed awe-inspiring, and culturally and historically significant. Thank you Stephen O'Shea for bringing them to life for me while I sat in my comfy chair by the fire. Wonderful.

[Urotnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light and fun, it does its job well, which is to introduce historical tidbits while offering descriptions of alpine locations.

There is humour peppered throughout that is often cute and worth a chuckle, but sometimes comes off as a little condescending, yet it is mostly all in good fun!

(It is a fairly anglocentic book, too, but then again a lot of authors from that cultural circle tend to have the same issue, so this is more of an observation than a critique.)

I was very interested in the segment for Slovenia, but it is very barebones and generic (to the point the people there are mostly referred as 'the Slavs'), it was almost as if he just drove through one afternoon and jotted down a few notes.

I made this review sound as if I did not enjoy the book, which is far from the truth... It is a cosy and undemanding read, perfect for immersing in a tourist-y alpine fantasy mood.

And as many reviewers have already mentioned, it doubles as a great list for want-to-visit places.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Stephen O'Shea who describes himself as looking like Thomas Jefferson on a bad hair day is a very amusing and erudite writer. That he happened to choose a piece of the world to explore that I am most interested in is a lucky boon for me. Ever since I heard about Hannibal and his elephants in 5th grade, I have been fascinated by the idea of Alpine passes. It is only now that I am actually planning a trip to experience the Swiss Alps. Stephen has done what a good travel writer should do; he has taken the familiar and shed new light. Most tourists to the Aps will experience them using public transport but Stephen instead drove which gives a whole other layer to the experience. Through Stephen you encounter other drivers. I especially love the bikers and the Dutch camper. You meet the locals you always theoretically want to meet. He also includes just enough historical detail to pique your curiosity. It's a great read for the travel buff.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Welp... I found myself super conflicted on how to feel about the author's voice and overall tone of this work.



One on hand, I liked the random tidbits of information. I've never read a travel book before but this seemed more casual and experiential than educational directive facts. So in many ways, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would have because I felt like I learned about the Alps in a unique way. However, regarding my conflict on the author's voice, I kind of felt rubbed the wrong way by his humor and manner of speaking at several points. I also originally picked up this book thinking it was one thing based on this description and it never delivered on that as another reviewer pointed out but I stuck it out anyways. So after finishing the book I think it was okay but think it could have been better in several areas.

[Patricia Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel writer and novelist, O’Shay takes an extended journey through the major passes of the Alps, providing a cultural, geological, historical, and personal narrative of these wild, “lasagna” mountains. Entertaining, tongue-in-check insights into the various towns and people of this area that covers parts of six countries. One feels the motion of the hairpin turns, smells the edelweiss, chuckles at the stereotypes of the bicyclists, the caravaners, the hikers, the towns-people with whom the author interacts, gaining a sense of the variety and history of the Alps. There is a richness, as the author notes, to the “imaginary and the real,” with the extreme mountains along with literary geniuses (Nietzsche, Rousseau, Joyce, Shelley, Maria Ranier Rilke, Sherlock Holmes), military battles (Hannibal, Napoleon, skirmishes during both World Wars), movies (James Bond, The Sound of Music), and well-loved stories (Heidi).

[Francesco · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, I did not enjoy this book. Intrigued by the title and my own love for the Alps, I was hoping in a real history of the Alpine region, as the subtitle seemed to suggest. Alas, it turned out to be a travelogue written in a style that did not work for me. With a certain attitude and an attempt to a joke at every other paragraph, the author collects a number of superficial observations as a distracted tourist who finds everything "local" funny, while making a reference here and there to Rousseau, Nietzsche, or Heidi. He definitely lost me when he attempted a joke with the word "Allegra," hello in Romansh, the fourth national language of Switzerland. "[...] as the waitress approaches the table, I cry out "Allegra." [...] She looks bored and replied in English "We don't serve cocktails."" Not only it is not funny, but I have been visiting this region for decades and I can guarantee this would never happen.