5 comments about The Habsburgs: Embodying Empire.

1. Agree with reviews that the book is challenging in the way it's organized: around the figures rather than a chronological series of events. This can be confusing, and the family tree is very helpful in sorting out all the Rudolfs, Ferdinands, and Francis'. But I've always found history more interesting this way. Wheatcroft more or less achieves an overall character of the house of Hapsburg, a family that has lasted for the good part of the last millenium, never wavering in the assurance that its members are ordained by God to rule and to serve the people with their best interests. it is the blend of divine right and self-sacrifice that lends the Hapburgs their unique character. The opening of the book reads almost like historical fiction, but this narrative technique never reappears. And because of the scope of the subject, opportunities to delve into any one figure, no matter how important, are rare. But I found the portrayal of the family as a whole satisfactory, and the book can be read as an introduction to any figure interesting enough to warrant further research, such as the ill-fated Don Carlos.



2. I wanted to read this book as i am getting ready to visit Vienna in April. The book by Mr Wheatcroft is good because his account touches on several things that were really interesting.For example, the author explains the different personalities of the Holy Roman Emperors and Emperors of Austria.He also does a good job in explaining the times in which this emperors reigned which gives you a very good view of the circunstamces at that time. I also enjoyed the motivation behind important buildings for the Habsburgs like El Escorial in Spain and the Catacombs in St Stephen Church in Vienna.For someone who wants an introduction to the Habsburgs is a good books altough it has several flaws. One is that the author " jumps" from one event to another or from one emperor to the other.For example,he'll be talking about Charles V and all of the sudden he starts talking about his sons or future emperors without letting you know about it.I found myself going back several paragraphs to understand why he was doing that.Second, he doesnt really explain how the Holy Roman Empire gets started.He just mentions Charlemagne several times and the reader has to imagine the rest.His account sometimes is fast and sometimes is detailed which forced me to use other books with genealogies to help me understand which emperor is which and where does he come from.The other problem with this book is that it looks like the author thinks that the reader knows a lot of things so he doesnt describe or gives definition to events,people and places that i didnt know.For example, Metternich is mentioned really fast and just by his last name, so if you dont knoe who Metternich is, you'll have to look for him in another book to know who he is.Besides it's flaws, is a good book to get you started.



3. Those who are seeking an magisterial overview of how one dynasty came to control both Spain and parts of German-speaking Europe will be sadly disappointed. There is little analysis that adds any fresh insights.
   
   The writing style does not achieve the easy grace of Alison Weir, Diane Preston or David McCullough. Indeed, the sentence structured is tortured. Look up the genesis of the First World War, and this is what you get: "Although the line of succession had been assured, first to his nephew Franz Ferdinand (although that was to be overturned by the archduke's murder in Sarajevo) and then to his great-nephew, Karl, and eventually Karl's son Otto, Franz Joseph had come to see himself as standing at the end of the line."
   
   This is an unreadable book that should be avoided.



4. This book gives a reasonably coherent overview of a dynasty that was eminent and influential in European politics from the 13th to the early 20th centuries. The author maintains a more or less chronological order of who followed whom and presents a concise history of the events that occurred during their reign. He also presents some insights and facts about the personal characteristics and traits of the more noteworthy Hapsburg (or Habsburg, if you like) rulers. At appropriate places in the text he inserts applicabnle commentary and quotes by contemporary observers. The book also includes numerous paintings as figures throughout the book.
   
   The book is not as bad as some reviewers would lead you to believe. What I liked about it is that (to me, at least) it didn't get bogged down in tedious detail of each Hapsburg generation but gave the major facts and figures in an informative manner. Given that the Hapsburgs wielded power in Spain and Austria at the same time, I thought his treatment was informative without being boring. It would be nice if the author had inserted the applicable figure number for a view of the subject as he presented him (or her) but this is a personal preference.



5. Unlike most histories of the Austian-Spanish-Burgundian-Low Country-Holy Roman Emporers, who were the Habsburgs, this is the story of how they saw themselves (as working for their people at the behest of a Catholic God). Much is made as to how they viewed themselves and how they wanted to be viewed by posterity. In many ways they continued to 'right write' their history in the same manner that the Soviet Union did. It's not always what you put in a story that's important, it's how you present the information in the story that remains.
   
   Beginning with the small castle in Switzerland, the Habsbierge (hawk's mountain), they ruled over parts of Austria (originally Styria) for over 700 years. In between the scrupulously married and made dynastic mergers that would place them on the thrones of Spain (and most of the Western Hemisphere, parts of Africa and India),Portugal,Burgundy (parts of Belgium and the Netherlands), the Palatinate, Tuscany, Venice, Two Sicilies, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia-Moravia, Slovakia,half of Rumania(Transylvania) and most of future-once-Yugoslavia. In addition they married into every royal family in Europe.
   
   In fact, until the Napoleonic Era they never even used a title that refered to Austria, and only began because of the rise of nationalism and the growth of ethnicity. They were always trained to be a caretaker and to present the most benevolent face to their people, 'Empire and Father' was the byword. In the end they were outdone by the multi-ethnic problems of their empire and the changes wrought by the 'Great War'.

No comments about WESTERWALD TO AMERICA: Some 18th Century German Immigrants.

1 comments about Address Book for Germanic Genealogy 6th ed..

1. Now in an updated sixth edition, Address Book For Germanic Genealogy by genealogist Ernest Thode is an in-depth and superbly organized collection of informative and helpful documentation for aspiring genealogists seeking a greater knowledge or understanding of the resources available to them in researching their Germanic ancestry. Covering every imaginable location and available contact with the particular facilities listed, Address Book For Germanic Genealogy is also inclusive of a list of helpful phrases and questions in German for greater ease in accomplishing or pursuing the desired information. Address Book For Germanic Genealogy is among leading resources for assistance in genealogical research with its expansive, exclusive, and informative documentation of everything one might need to trace their Germanic heritage, and is very strongly recommended to everybody seeking a complete genealogical understanding and recording of their Germanic ancestors.

1 comments about Pennsylvania German Immigrants, 1709-1786 Lists Consolidated from Yearbooks.

1. A book for people with German ancestry interested in genealogy. Transcribed from original records in Germany. Although I love this book most others would find it of little interest. It contains the names of a few hundred 18th Century immigrants from three or four selected areas of Germany to primarily Philadelphia, Pa. I suggest you look at the index in a library first to discover if an ancestor is listed. Though there are parts of the book with general genealogical information regarding the three areas covered, most is applicable to the individual immigrants. If you, like me, have an ancestor listed, the information on the other immigrants becomes fascinating as well since it is an eye into their lives before they came to America. The nice thing is, since it's in English you don't have to learn old German to read it. Besides an index to the immigrants there's one for the ships many of them sailed on to America as well.

4 comments about In Search of Your German Roots. The Complete Guide to Tracing Your Ancestors in the Germanic Areas of Europe. New Fourth Edition.

1. This is a great place to start for German genealogy. Mr. Baxter gives a brief history of Germany (including the Soviet breakup) and locations of record repositories. As in all of his other book, he tells you how to start your research (talk to Grandma before it's too late!), an overview of the LDS organization and tips and guides to doing research in Germany. He also gives you information on the languages of the area and what types of records you might expect to find. Do not despair of finding people in Germany-Mr. Baxter can help. You'll never regret buying this book.



2. The sub-title of "A complete guide to tracing your ancestors in the Germanic areas of Europe" is rather misleading. It is not "complete" by any stretch of the imagination.

   This is a very brief introduction (103 pages of text) to a very large topic. Some aspects of German research are treated in only the most cursory manner - the Lutheran church covered in a chapter of a single page while the Germans in Canada are dealt with in only 3 pages.

   The section on German record types leaves the reader wishing for more information. Which is the feeling the entire book gives "I wish there was more here".

   While this book has been updated to reflect the reunification of Germany, this is not Angus Baxter's best book. His "In Search of Your British & Irish Roots" and "In Search of Your Canadian Roots" are much more comprehensive in their scope. Because this book compares poorly with his other works, I have given it only two stars.




3. If you're researching German ancestors who emigrated to the U.S. or Canada, then this book is a good place to start.
   Baxter provides a brief history of Germany and describes German migrations over the centuries to specific areas of central Europe such as Silesia, the Banat, parts of Slovakia, the Ukraine, and southern Russia. Baxter also traces migration patterns into North America where many Germans settled in Pennsylvania, the mid-West, and the Kitchener area of Canada.
   He describes the different groups that settled in specific areas, including their place of origin, religious background, and dates of migration.
   There is also a lot of useful naming information, which includes the changing of names' spellings, the system of patronymics used in some areas of northern Germany, the use of 'von' or 'Von' in one's surname, and the use of diminutives in first names.



4. Terrible waste of money. The first third of the book is a history of Germany, which anyone could find on Wikipedia. Do not buy this book.

4 comments about German Army Uniforms and Insignia, 1933-1945.

1. Very thorough, very detailed, plenty of pictures. Indispensible if you are more than casually interested in the subject.



2. You have to really enjoy this subject to find value in this book. Overall the author did a good job, although I would have liked to have more background on some of the topics. I have found the book to be a good guide while visiting WW 2 museums that have uniform collections.



3. This oldie but still relevant book on German Army Uniforms continues to stand the test of time. The context and relevance of various items of equipment and insignia worn with the uniforms is clearly indicated and backed by good pictures and diagrams.



4. I was hoping to get color photos of proud German soldiers in their uniforms but they're all black and white which, needless to say is uninspiring to read.
   Otherwise, it's well-written and the black and white photos do an ok job of depicting the uniforms.

No comments about Nietzsche, Genealogy, Morality: Essays on Nietzsche's <i>On the Genealogy of Morals</i> (Philosophical Traditions).

1 comments about Opa Nobody (American Lives).

1. In Opa Nobody, Sonya Huber expands the territory of the memoir by engaging in speculation of the most fruitful kind about the family history that history itself conspired to make only partially available. The result is a memoir reminiscent of novels that incorporate similar strategies, among them Philip Roth's American Pastoral and William Styron's Sophie's Choice. Lofty company, this, but it is company Huber has earned. Opa Nobody is highly recommended.

2 comments about The Nazi Ancestral Proof: Genealogy, Racial Science, and the Final Solution.

1. This is another in a long line of books that shed no new light on the unfortunate events of WWII. Not one I would make a must read to understand the Holocaust.



2. In the first third of the twentieth century, Germany was the most technologically sophisticated and scientifically advanced nation in the world. How could such a nation have produced the Third Reich, the author asks. But before 1933 Germany was not the country where antisemitism has its deepest roots, and this book avoids contributing something to enlighten the causes of antisemitismus in general and in Germany in particular.
   Up to now "race" has in many languages two meanings: First, it means a nation as a whole, second, it means a distinct human type with specific, hereditarily based physical and mental characteristics. In its first meaning, racial hygiene could be unterstood as synonymous with social hygiene, in its second, race was a term of physical anthropology. Leading Nazis were well aware of this ambiguity of the term race and played in words with this ambiguity.
   Despite Jews were never a race in the sense of physical anthropology, anthropologists tried to discern Jews from non-Jews on the basis of racial characterics. The strongest part of this book by Ehrenrich is documenting this dissonance between racial scientific theory and racist practice. The author draws upon a rich body of original sources from German archives and publications. His knowledge of such sources is extraordinary exhaustive and his conclusions are of high originality.
   
   In 1933 the democratically elected government of Germany institutionalized the racial ideology of the Nazi party. In the following years millions of Germans had do proof their "Aryan" descent. But because the Aryans were never a race, since 1935 The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor prohibited marriages and extramarital intercourse between "Jews" (the name was now officially used in place of "non-Aryans") and "Germans. The German Blood Certificate (Deutschblütigkeitserklärung) was a document provided to those with partial Jewish heritage during the Second World War that allowed exemption from Germany's racial laws. Hitler insisted on reviewing each application personally. Thousands of soldiers exempted in such a way from the Nuremberg laws, served in the German Army (see Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story Of Nazi Racial Laws And Men Of Jewish Descent In The German Military (Modern War Studies))
   
   However, even after 1935 in the language of the ordinary people, someone had "to prove his Aryan descent". It was not a proof belonging to a race, but a proof of genealogical descent from non-Jews.

2 comments about Finding Your German Ancestors : A Beginner's Guide.

1. I am just beginning to trace my ancestors to the French-German border area. I found the background history in this book to be helpful in giving me insight into why my ancestors may have left their homes to come to America. The contacts and sources suggested later in the book likewise provide me a good starting point for dealing with foreign leads.



2. It IS inexpensive, so that's a good thing. However, the book was about 50% history from the Roman Empire to the formation of the German state. None of this historical information would be of use to a beginner since it does self-identify as a "beginners guide". One thing that would be of obvious benefit would be for the book to include comprehensive examples of common german language documents such as birth, death, baptismal, etc, records. Nope. No such things. As someone who is doing family research with German documents, there are about 10 documents that are similar and are used over and over again throughout the German world. How about a translation of said documents?? How about explaining why, in some instances, the maiden name is omitted for the mother in birth documents? The book does have a bunch of contact information that anyone could amass in an afternoon on the internet. However, it was written in 1999, so who knows how valid the information is at this point. If I had to choose again, I'd go to the library and read it in about an hour. After that, I would photocopy the pages with contact information for a dollar and then be done with it. Don't buy it, but if you do, understand what you are getting and know that it isn't a reference book in any meaningful way. It really made me think that I could write a much better guide over the summer that would truly be useful for the beginner. Hmmmm...