A Nervous Splendor, Vienna 1888-1889
by Frederic Morton
A portrait of Vienna at the end of the 19th century, this book focuses on Crown Prince Rudolph, his devastating suicide and the rich texture of gossip and daily life at the Habsburg Court.
A Time of Gifts
by Patrick Leigh Fermor
Fermor effortlessly interweaves anecdote, history and culture in this exuberant account of a walk from Holland, up the Rhine and down the Danube, through Germany, Prague and Austria in 1933. Written not in the moment, but 40 years later, the accumulation of time and experience gives the book particular poignancy.
Amadeus
by Miloš Forman
The story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his life in Vienna during the 18th-century.
Before Sunrise
by Richard Linklater
A romantic classic following two strangers wandering Vienna for one night. Starring starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
Budapest 1900
by John Lukacs
Written by a distinguished historian and native son, this richly detailed portrait of the city at its zenith includes hundreds of illustrations.
Budapest, A Cultural History
by Bob Dent
This brilliant guide introduces the history and traditions of this Central European cultural capital, with emphasis on its most important artists and architects.
Budapest: City of Spas
by Károly Saly Noémi
The book covers the development of Budapest’s bath culture from Roman to modern times, individual baths like Széchenyi, and the social life and rituals of bathing.
Central Europe Map
by Freytag & Berndt
This colorful regional European map, like the sister map Europe Grand Tour (EUR185), covers from Paris and Amsterdam to Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, Rome and Dubrovnik.
Danube
by Claudio Magris
Mixing history, personalities and literature, Magris traces the course of the Danube from its source in the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Balkans to the Black Sea in this anything but conventional travelogue, first published in 1986.
Danubia, A Personal History of Habsburg Europe
by Simon Winder
Winder, author of Germania (GER270), considers the legacy of the Habsburg Europe in this charmingly digressive history and travelogue.
Herbartianism and its Educational Consequences in the Period of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
by Edvard Protner
A deep dive into Herbartian pedagogy, one of the dominant teaching philosophies in 19th-century Vienna and Budapest.
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956
by Anne Applebaum
In the much-anticipated follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag, acclaimed journalist Anne Applebaum delivers a groundbreaking history of how Communism took over Eastern Europe after World War II and transformed in frightening fashion the individuals who came under its sway. Iron Curtain describes how, spurred by Stalin and his secret police, the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe were created and what daily life was like once they were complete. Drawing on newly opened East European archives, interviews, and personal accounts translated for the first time, Applebaum portrays in chilling detail the dilemmas faced by millions of individuals trying to adjust to a way of life that challenged their every belief and took away everything they had accumulated. As a result the Soviet Bloc became a lost civilization, one whose cruelty, paranoia, bizarre morality, and strange aesthetics Applebaum captures in these electrifying pages.
Journey By Moonlight
by Antal Szerb
One of the best-known novels in contemporary Hungarian literature tells the story of Mihály, who goes to Italy with his new wife Erzsi. When bride and groom become separated at a provincial train station, Mihály embarks on a chaotic and bizarre journey that leads him finally to Rome, where he must reckon with both his past and his future.
Lonely Planet Central Europe
by Lonely Planet
With dozens of maps, color photographs and sections on history and culture, this practical guide introduces Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and their neighbors.
Mozart, A Life
by Paul Johnson
Challenging myths surrounding Mozart’s health, religion and relationships, biographer Paul Johnson shows the great composer’s lasting impact on the musical world with insight.
Son of Saul
by László Nemes
A powerful Holocaust drama set in Auschwitz, directed by Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes.
Sunshine
by István Szabó
Spans three generations of a Jewish family in Hungary, with Budapest as a key setting.
The Habsburgs, Embodying Empire
by Andrew Wheatcroft
With skillful scholarship and engaging style, Wheatcroft reveals the history of this family of eccentric monarchs.
The Hare With Amber Eyes
by Edmund De Waal
Edmund de Waal unfolds the story of his remarkable family, a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who "burned like a comet" in early 20th-century Paris and Vienna.
The Museum Age in Austria-Hungary
by Matthew Rampley et al.
Scholarly book that shows how museums and public institutions functioned as informal educational spaces in Vienna and Budapest.
The Third Man
by Carol Reed
A legendary noir set in post-WWII Vienna—famous for its atmosphere and zither score.
Thermae: The Roman Baths of Ancient Rome
by Fik Meijer
A vivid historical study of Roman bathhouses showing how they functioned not just as places for bathing, but as central hubs of social, cultural, and political life in the Roman world. It provides context of how the Roman bathing culture connects to current spa culture today.
Vaterland, Heimat, and the Family of Nations
by Cambridge University Press
Explores how Austrian schools (centered in Vienna) used textbooks to shape identity, citizenship, and multicultural awareness in students.
Vienna, A Traveler's Literary Companion
by Donald Daviau
Organized by neighborhood, these 15 alluring tales introduce both the city and its writers, including Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Musil, Stefan Zweig and even Franz Kafka, who had a long and complicated association with the city.
Woman in Gold
by Simon Curtis
Based on a true story involving art restitution tied to Vienna. The biographical drama features the life of Maria Altmann and her reclaiming of a Klimt painting. Starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds.
