In the course of the twentieth century, Austria has been transformed from the centre of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual empire of fifty-three million people to a republic of approximately eight million predominantly German-speaking citizens. The demise of the Habsburg Empire, the traumas of two world wars, the barbarism of fascism, and the political stability and economic prosperity of the Second Austrian Republic have all played a significant role in shaping modern Austrian identities. The short stories included in this volume, written by such authors as Ingeborg Bachmann, Thomas Bernhard, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Robert Musil, Joseph Roth, and Arthur Schnitzler, present a vivid array of Austrian characters whose lives have been shaped by both major historical events and the concerns and contingencies of everyday existence.