At the Guardian, McMeekin named a top ten list of books about Austria-Hungary, including:Europe Transformed 1878-1919 by Norman StoneRead about another book on the list.
It might seem strange to begin with what sounds like a simple history textbook. But Europe Transformed is anything but. Stone is best known as a Turcophile who cut his teeth on Russian history. And yet his first and (to my mind) truest love was for the ill-fated Dual Monarchy uniting Austria and Hungary. The essay on Austria-Hungary is the centerpiece of the book, and well worth the price. It was written, I am told on good authority, under the influence of champagne, which must be why the tone so perfectly matches the subject: exuberant, learned, urbane, slightly tipsy, surprisingly robust, and yet wracked with a sense of impending doom.
--Marshal Zeringue
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