Wolfgang Neugebauer offers an indispensable, comprehensive account of Austrian resistance activities after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany. Drawing on nearly five decades of his own work, primarily as the director of the Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes (DÖW), and the research conducted by the DÖW and other centers, the book explores the complexities of Austrian resistance by examining the major groups and individuals involved in the effort. Challenging both the notion that Austrian resistance “never really existed” and the exploitation of resistance for political purposes, Neugebauer demonstrates that many actors from diverse backgrounds in a variety of locations played important roles in challenging the Nazi order. The broad scope of the book is justified by the expansive definition of resistance Neugebauer proffers. He criticizes narrow conceptualizations that only consider organized and political manifestations of opposition. Neugebauer instead hews to Karl Stadler's position that all forms of opposition to National Socialism should be considered as examples of resistance.

The first chapter covers the machinery of Nazi repression and persecution, providing vital information on the number of arrests, murders, and suicides perpetrated by the Nazis and the judicial apparatus of the state. From this data, Neugebauer concludes that although many Austrians participated in the Nazi state, it is questionable to implicate the great majority (51).

The remainder of the book looks at discrete groups of resisters, sprinkling in individual anecdotes to flesh out the account. Neugebauer begins with the Socialists. They were the strongest group numerically, yet their organization was fragmented by the outbreak of war. Nevertheless, Revolutionary Socialists and factory operatives remained active, encouraging workers to resist through the distribution of programs and flyers, the use of Socialist symbols, and the establishment of small political cells. Likewise, Communists engaged in similar actions. Their calls for active resistance and their Austrian-patriotic views set them apart from others on the Left. They were the staunchest opponents to the Nazis, with more than half of the convicted resisters coming from Communist ranks and 90 percent of the illegal printed material in the DÖW originating from their presses. Neugebauer recognizes their signal contribution to Austrian resistance in the conclusion to the section (114).

Catholics, religious dissenters, and legitimists are featured next. Neugebauer outlines the problematic relationship between Austrian Catholic leaders and the Nazis and the relative lack of institutional resistance before highlighting examples of individual resistance carried out by Catholics, clergy, and laity alike. This consisted primarily of delivering subversive sermons and sheltering resisters. The stories of Franz Jägerstätter and his conscientious objection and Anna Bertha von Königsegg's protests against the euthanasia program serve as centerpieces of the section.

The following chapters enumerate a vast array of organizations of small size that sought to develop an identity through active resistance. These included legitimists, Catholic youths, emigrés, and others. The discussion of Jewish resistance—which seems all too brief—stresses how Jews did not go like sheep to the slaughter. Neugebauer follows by examining partisans, particularly in Slovenia, and dissenters in the German military itself. He concludes his coverage by looking at individual resistance in camps and on the home front, which manifested in anti-regime statements and flyers, listening to foreign radio broadcasts, and noncompliance [Resistenz].

It is nearly impossible to do justice to the wide sweep of Neugebauer's text in a short review. The book is encyclopedic in scope, with hundreds of individuals and groups filling the pages. The extensive notes and bibliography provide outstanding information for further investigation. The English version is also a major advance from the German edition, as it includes quantitative information from important recent projects and databases. Moreover, the comments in the introduction on the politics of memory and the role of the DÖW in the memory project is an insightful and nuanced analysis of Austria's relationship with its past. That said, the strengths of the book—its ecumenical approach and its large cast of characters—occasionally detract from its analytic thrust. It becomes difficult to assess the relative significance of different forms of resistance. The book might have also benefited from a more thorough discussion of concepts of resistance. Although the author has written articles elsewhere on the subject, the omission here hindered the attempt to draw analytic distinctions. These criticisms in no way undermine the overall triumph that this book represents. It is the finest synthetic account of Austrian resistance to date, and it highlights the significance of the DÖW and the author's lifelong work.