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A Trip to Vienna
Last Waltz in ViennaLast Waltz in Vienna by George Clare
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £7.50
The history of a middle class Jewish family in Vienna told by the one who managed to get out to safety. More gripping than Julie Andrews escaping the Nazis!
A Nervous Splendour: Vienna, 1888-89A Nervous Splendour: Vienna, 1888-89 by Frederic Morton
Buy new: £2.50 / Used from: £1.00
Social background through contemporary journals leading up to the tensions resulting in Prince Rudolf's suicide at Mayerling. A social reformer repressed by his position. Excellent historical slant.
Emperor and the Actress: Love Story of Emperor Franz Josef and Katharina SchrattEmperor and the Actress: Love Story of Emperor Franz Josef and Katharina Schratt by Joan Haslip
Buy used from: £3.97
Supposedly platonic adultery between Emperor Franz Josep (Queen Victoria's contemporary) and a leading actress. Slow to start until Mayerling- Rudolf is portrayed as a syphilitic manic depressive.
The Habsburgs: Embodying EmpireThe Habsburgs: Embodying Empire by Andrew Wheatcroft
Buy new: £8.39 / Used from: £2.11
Jumps around a bit confusingly at times, but a good social insight to how the Habsburgs created themselves as rulers of a vast territory. Excellent maps.
Marie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.01
An Austrian princess, daughter of the matriarch, Empress Maria Theresa, has some fun and dies with surprising dignity. An eye opener.
The Rough Guide to Vienna (Rough Guide Travel Guides)The Rough Guide to Vienna (Rough Guide Travel Guides) by Rob Humphreys
Buy used from: £0.08
Useful background to the sites in black and white. Insights and a general guide.
Vienna (DK Eyewitness Pocket Map & Guide)Vienna (DK Eyewitness Pocket Map & Guide)
Buy new: £3.37 / Used from: £1.97
The pretty version of a tourist guide- glossy eyecatching photos, but less information than a more sober guide.
The Rough Guide Phrasebook German (Rough Guide Phrasebooks)The Rough Guide Phrasebook German (Rough Guide Phrasebooks) by Lexus
Buy new: £3.16 / Used from: £0.29
small pocket phrasebook - useful thing to carry
Vienna (Everyman MapGuides)Vienna (Everyman MapGuides) by Everyman
Buy used from: £5.99
Useful city map, for when you get totally frustrated trying to piece the small guidebook maps together.
Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913-1914Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913-1914 by Frederic Morton
Buy used from: £5.25
Stop press: rose grower and woman he married for love in defiance of family shot- tensions grow in Balkans. Could this be war?
The reluctant empressThe reluctant empress by Brigitte Hamann
Buy used from: £11.65
Shy princess, married too young, obsesses with dieting, noted beauty, runs away from over stuffy court, likes male admirers, visits sick, hates bodyguards, meets violent end. Ermm?
City Guide - Vienna [DVD]City Guide - Vienna [DVD] by City Guide
Buy new: £12.99 / Used from: £4.99
Despite the Essex Boy presenter and the root vegetable orchestra (I kid you not), this did reflect Viennese social fixations and made me reconsider going to museums I had rejected