Professor Fichtner's book is concerned with the Austrian branch of the Habsburg dynasty, not with the Spanish branch, which is seldom mentioned. The book's essential aim is to describe the aspects of the Austrian dynasty's history that have most influenced the history of the modern Austrian state. Her account is prefaced by an ambitious seven-page “Political Chronology,” whose first entry is for “c. 976” AD and ends only with the death of Otto von Habsburg in 2011. The book's account of the dynasty naturally begins after 976 with Rudolf in the late thirteenth century, and the coverage becomes steadily fuller from the late fifteenth century onward until Francis Joseph (r. 1848–1916) finally receives almost a hundred pages, a third of the entire book. Twenty illustrations and three maps are included.

The long period covered and the clarity of the presentation make this an attractive and useful volume, especially for Anglophone readers, but it is important to understand the limitations of this approach. The discussion throughout is founded on a broad knowledge and judicious use of the extensive literature available in English, French, and German on the family's lands in Central and Eastern Europe. The importance of Hungary and its individuality are highlighted particularly well, as are the problems presented by religious differences. Most of the dynasty's rulers are well characterized, often with some unusual and illuminating detail, and the story of the Habsburgs' lands north of the Alps and east of the Rhine is told in a clear and lively manner. A short final chapter considers the impact of the grand history of the Austrian Empire on the little Austrian Republic established in 1918.

So far, so good, but the author gives hardly a hint that some of the most important aspects of Austrian Habsburg rule have been omitted from the book. No doubt many accounts of Habsburg rulers have been too obsessed with their relationship to the Holy Roman Empire, but nearly all the Austrian Habsburg rulers discussed in this book, down to Francis in 1792, were elected emperor, had cared very much that this should happen, and then tried to fill that role. The absence of explanation and discussion of this issue is distorting.

Perhaps even more troubling is the failure to consider seriously the affairs of either the Belgian or the Italian provinces of the monarchy. Both were particularly valuable financially and culturally to the rulers of the empire, and the Italian possessions were especially important in linking Germany and Austria to Italian culture, the papal state, and Mediterranean ports. Together with the role of the Habsburgs as German emperors, possession of these provinces ensured that these rulers looked west, north, and south from Vienna, as well as toward the East, which was to become their overriding concern only at the end of the nineteenth century. The impact of Italian independence and unification on the position of the Habsburgs in the mid nineteenth century receives no attention at all in this book, and indeed the large body of relevant writings in Italian is ignored.

Professor Fichtner's book provides a valuable and accessible introduction to important aspects of the story of the Habsburgs and their monarchy, but it is not a balanced account. Writing about the Austrian monarchy is made especially difficult by many factors, such as the number of semi-independent provinces involved, the physical gaps and distances between them, and the role of the Holy Roman Empire. Professor Fichtner deals with some of the difficulties by largely ignoring them. The Italian territories, Lombardy and Venetia, and in some periods Naples and Sicily, are hardly mentioned, and yet they were among the richest, most populous, and most prized Habsburg lands. By largely ignoring the empire and the Habsburgs' role as emperors, the author makes their story clearer but not more accurate. Thus although this book is a lively and useful contribution to Habsburg history, and would make a good introduction to the subject, it must be supplemented by work on the missing topics, especially the empire, Belgium, and Italy.