Danubia

CONTENTS

Maps...xv

Introduction...1
Place names // The Habsburg family

Chapter One...17
Tombs, trees and a swamp // Wandering peoples // The hawk's fortress // 'Look behind you!' // Cultic sites // The elected Caesars

Chapter Two...51
The heir of Hector // The great wizard // Gnomes on horseback // Juana's children // Help from the Fuggers // The disaster

Chapter Three...87
'Mille regretz' // 'The strangest thing that ever happened' // The armour of heroes // Europe under siege // The pirates' nest // A real bear-moat

Chapter Four...117
The other Europe // Bezoars and nightclub hostesses // Hunting with cheetahs // The seven fortresses

Chapter Five...147
A surprise visit from a fl ying hut // 'His divine name will be inscribed in the stars' // Death in Eger // Burial rites and fox-clubbing // The devil-doll // How to build the Tower of Babel

Chapter Six...177
Genetic terrors // The struggle for mastery in Europe // A new frontier // Zeremonialprotokoll // Bad news if you are a cockatrice // Private pleasures

Chapter Seven...209
Jesus vs. Neptune // The first will // Devotional interiors // The second will // Zips and Piasts

Chapter Eight...243
The great crisis // Austria wears trousers // The Gloriette // The war on Christmas cribs // Illustrious corpses // Carving up the world

Chapter Nine...277
'Sunrise' // An interlude of rational thoughtfulness // Defeat by Napoleon, part one // Defeat by Napoleon, part two // Things somehow get even worse // An intimate family wedding // Back to nature

Chapter Ten...313
A warning to legitimists // Problems with loyal subjects // Un vero quarantotto // Mountain people

Chapter Eleven...343
The Temple to Glorious Disaster // New Habsburg empires // The stupid giant // Funtime of the nations // The deal // An expensive sip of water

Chapter Twelve...375
Mapping out the future // The lure of the Orient // Refusals // Village of the damned // On the move // The Führer

Chapter Thirteen...411
The sheep and the melons // Elves, caryatids, lots of allegorical girls // Monuments to a vanished past // Young Poland

Chapter Fourteen...439
'The fat churchy one' // Night music // Transylvanian rocketry // Psychopathologies of everyday life // The end begins

Chapter Fifteen...471
The curse of military contingency // Sarajevo // The Przemysl catastrophe . Last train to Wilsonville // A pastry shell // The price of defeat // Triumphs of indifference

Conclusion...505
Map of Modern Central Europe...514
Bibliography...517
Illustrations...529
Acknowledgements...533
Index...535

Maps

1. The splitting of Charles V's inheritance...xvi
2. The Habsburg Empire, 1815...xviii
3. The Dual Monarchy...xx
4. The United States of Austria...444
5. Modern Central Europe...514