A tribute to Hungary's best and brightest deserves cogent writing. In Made in Hungary, Mr. Simon, fails to even utilize basic English grammer. The errors are too common, too glaring and time and time again I found myself wondering who could have edited and published a book with so many obvious errors. In addition, throughout thebook Mr. Simon makes numerous unsupportable and sometimes outrageous statements. My advice is to pass this book up and wait until someone with some writing ability tackles the subject.

This book is excellent! I wanted to learn more about Hungary, its history, its ways, its contributions to the world, and this book covers it.

It begins with a historical perspective, 'Milestones of Progress', and then covers Hungary's impact from the Arts and Social Sciences to Engineering, and even Sports. It is not a 'cover to cover' read, but can be read either a chapter at a time, or as a reference book to look up information as needed.

If you are looking for a book that covers Hungary from an interesting and to the point perspective, this is it!

The pictures were beautiful, but I was looking for a book with more information on the history of the breed. The book read more like a childrens book, very little text and a lot of pictures. I was very dissapointed and returned it as a result.

What a pleasure to see this book available in English! Anyone loving ponies, palominos, or of course, Haflingers, will just melt at the quality of these photos - you'll want each one as a poster! Dream on.... (I am a lucky owner of a beautiful Haflinger, so am rather biased in my opinion!)

An excellent and important story that needs to be told over and over again. But for those of us who use non-fiction books such as this for research as well, this book lacks a crucial element--an index. I could not recommend this book to someone researching information on the Holocaust because there is no way for someone to retrieve important information without laboriously searching page by page through the book. When will publishers learn what researchers and librarians know, a non-fiction book without an index is not complete?

This is a compelling and frequently moving account of the author's grandparents' lives from the turn of the century in Vienna to the middle years of the twentieth century. The grandparents, David and Amalie Oppenheim, had both the good and bad fortune to live through some of the most interesting and tragic times of the last century. As young, educated, middle-class Jews living in Vienna at the beginning of the twentieth century, they experienced the last days of the Hapsburg empire, the intellectual currents of the time and place (including being part of Freud's circle), the first world war, the depression, anti-semitism, Nazism and the Holocaust, as well as the great intellectual achievements of Austro-German culture.

The book is a fascinating account of the period, as well as the curious relationship between David and Amalie, whose homosexual feelings towards others seem to lead them into marriage and children of their own. The final chapters, describing post-Anschluss Vienna, the ghetto conditions in which they were forced to live, and finally Theresienstadt concentration camp are harrowing and moving. As a memoir rather than a history, the book is written well and reads easily; though there are references to other works, it is not in any way dull or academic. The author's frequent comparisons between his grandfather's way of thinking and his own are I feel a little forced, but this is only a minor quibble, especially when the humanity of both the author and the grandparents about whom he is writing is evident. Highly recommended.

One book which Singer refers to frequently is Stefan Zweig's "The World of Yesterday", which I would also highly recommend to anyone interested in the period or subject matter.

Viktor Frankl has presented us with snap shots of the key events in his life. These recollections were never intended for publication but through the encouragement of his publisher this slim volume was made available for readers. Thus begins our journey in looking at the life of the founder of Logotherapy and the author of "Man's Search for Meaning."

Frankl's life is filled with interesting portraits. We learn of his mother's patrician background and the fact that she was descended from a family of prominent rabbis. His father was a struggling student and was director of the government's Ministry of Social Services.

We get to see this inquisitive young man as he is impacted by Freud, Hirschmann, Schilder and Adler as he begins to step int the field of psychoanalysis. Through his philosophical questionings and debates with these giants in the field we find Frankl developing his own methodology. March of 1938 became a turing point for the young man as his country is invaded by the Nazis and he is placed in a concentration camp. From that experience wee see a new personality arising who meets the psychological, emotional and spiritual tensions in his life with utmost grace.We see a man who has the opportunity to leave Austria and avoid the concentration camps but he elects to stay and care for his parents.

Unfortunately this memoir is not a full autobiography of Frankl. You receive sketches of his life and end up wanting more. Read in conjunction with Man's Search for Meaning, the reader can gain further insight on this great personality. I believe this book serves as a supplemental text for the author's Man Search for Meaning." Hopefully a full scale biographical work will come out on Frankl. Until then, this slender volume will whet your appetite to learn more about this great man.

"Recollections" is episodic, much like sharing a cup of coffee with a casual acquaintance and trying to divine their life story from those conversations. Dr. Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" is a landmark book for many seekers--including me--and I jumped at the chance to read this so-called autobiography of a giant in the field of diagnosing modern society's malaise. The book is a pleasant read, with Dr. Frankl's humor guiding the narrative. There's not much in the way of how Dr. Frankl coped with returning from concentration camps to find every member of his family--including his young wife--dead. The late Dr. Frankl's narrative is light and episodic, like afternoon conversations instead of Freudian analysis.

If you are going to Europe hoping to find that Germany consists of Neuschwanstein, oompah bands, and wurst, Switzerland is all Heidi, cheese, and chocolate, and Austria the Sound of Music personified, you might find this guide useful. I have found that there are a lot of American travelers who take this approach to international travel, and the book will definitely guide you toward these experiences. On my fifth visit to the region, however, I wanted to appreciate the variety of these countries, and I was struck by the limitations of Steves' approach.

I will admit that my budget was what originally motivated me to buy the book, but I found that I got more bang for my buck by asking locals where to stay or eat - although I have to admit that since I couldn't try out every place listed, I may have simply chosen the wrong options. I also quickly realized that many of the towns in which I decided to stay (I made very few advance reservations, preferring to leave my options open) were not included in the book.

What disturbed me far more was the number of times, while trying to telephone places listed in the book, I was told that I had a wrong number. After this happened repeatedly, I threw the book out halfway through my trip.

Although I agree with a previous reviewer that the book was pleasantly written, I found Steves very dismissive of some cities, without recognition that people's tastes vary. In Heidelberg, for example, I have experienced wonderful walks along the Philosophenweg, terrific concerts in the churches, and generally great hospitality. Yes, there are American military bases nearby which mean that a lot of English is spoken, but that hasn't ruined the town for me. In Rothenburg, on the other hand, which Steves loves (and I have to agree that it is physically a charming town), I found everyone so geared up for tourists this summer that I had a hard time practicing my German, and there was a general surliness in the atmosphere which made for a less-than-enjoyable experience. Steves just doesn't include a town if he doesn't personally like it, leaving a traveler who either wants to or needs to stay there stranded.

Overall, I have to conclude that I wouldn't use this guidebook again. I haven't given it the lowest rating because I was not very pleased with any of the options available this year - my advice, if you don't need to make plans in advance and can wait until you get to Germany, is to buy a guidebook there. Both the German guides (in German) and the British ones (in English) available there were far more interesting and accurate.

Rick Steves' Germany, Austria & Switzerland guide is a laid-back tour of all the "undiscovered nooks and crannies" of the region. Like all of his guides, this one is enjoyable just to read. His guide is personalized, definitely written by a real person with a sense of humor.

If you plan to do more than just read Rick Steves' Germany, Austria & Switzerland, you have chosen THE BEST guide possible if you enjoy meeting locals, learning about cultures, and traveling off the beaten path. I have found that in many of the places Steves' writes about, the only other English-speakers you will meet will be Steves' followers. He also includes names and descriptions of restaurant, pension, hostel, hotel, and shop proprietors so that you can go in and say "hi!" Steves' constantly updates his books and you can be sure that the person behind the counter is the one described in his book. You will be greeted enthusiastically by these people because Rick is a well-known nice guy to them. In some cases you will receive discounts with these proprietors (I received a free town map from a shopkeep in Rothenburg o.b. because I carried Steves' book with me).

If this is your first trip to Europe and you are interested in seeing the most popular tourist attractions, or if you feel more comfortable in a tourist situation, take along a mainstream guide like "Let's Go" to use in conjunction with Steves' guide. His off-the-beaten path approach is great for students, families, solo-women travelers, groups, and senior citizens. I have seen all of these types with his book.

Rick Steves' Germany, Austria & Switzerland is the best guide you can get. The experiences you will have will leave you longing to return to his "undiscovered nooks and crannies."

This is a beautifully produced book in full color. Describes all the retired pieces as of 2000, but not those still in production so avid collectors will still need the book by Warner. This book like that of Warner lacks an index by product number. Missing more than a few pictures (an empty box has been left in the text), which hopefully the author will include in a later edition. There is no space left on the page for the collector to write any notes.

Really a great price guide as long as you don't have any recent pieces. The name says retired, so don't go looking for current pieces prices.

The author states in the preface that "The Third Man" was never written to be read but only to be seen" which perhaps explains the sketchy treatment of characters throughout the story.At times I was confused by the various people in the book and had to reread some pages.The storyline was interesting and quite exciting and I look forward to seeing the film. The other story in the book,"The Fallen Idol",is only 30 pages long but Greene manages to convey a sinister atmosphere and great depth of characters-a very enjoyable story.

On the backcover of the book:

THE THIRD MAN

Rollo Martins is invited by his school-friend hero, Harry Lime, to post-war Vienna, 'a smashed dreary city' occupied by four powers...

Everyone has a racket, but Martins learns that Lime 'was about the worst racketeer who ever made a dirty living'. What's more, LIme has just been killed - by accident? The truth is almost more than Martins can stand...

THE FALLEN IDOL

Philip is a small boy left in a large Belgravia house with Baines, the butler, and 'thin, menacing, dusty' Mrs Baines. And Baines has a girl-friend. Soon Philip is 'caught up in other people's darkness...'

Greene writes in the preface that "The Third Man was never intended to be more than the raw materiall for a picture". Still, the novel is not lack of intricated plots, suspenses, character's thought processes, and Greene's typical sharp wits. The Fallen Idol was not written for the films. It is a short story with intensity and suspense: a boy got involved in the lives of adults.

Graham Greene is the master of suspense, even in these two rather short stories. That's all I have to say about this book.

I browsed through this book looking for the Prague section mentioned on the cover. I looked through another copy to make sure I wasn't wrong. I read the contents, read the index. Prague, Munich, & Budapest are NOT discussed in this book. Spend your money elsewhere if you want to see the area.

Yes, the editors made a serious mistake when they forgot to include Prague, Budapest, and Munich and yet advertised it on the cover. Those were only bonuses, not the focus of the book. I bought the book for my year abroad in Austria and found it extremely helpful. For the time I had it I did not get lost following the maps and the information was accurate. Unfortunately the book is now in a river in Luzern. Ran after it for a long time with no luck. I replaced it with the 2001 edition and was disappointed to find that they cut out a city that I was planning to go to (Cesky Krumlov). I thought the 2000 version was good. If you want the three cities they missed, copy the pages from a book in the library.

I've spent months in Austria and Switzerland, using a variety of travel books, and Let's Go is the best, bar none. They have excellent coverage of the outdoors, witty writing, and they find cheap, cheap, cheap places that nevertheless manage to be great finds. The maps have improved over previous years, but they could stand an extra one or two. Fortunately, the rest of the information is up to date, as it is the most-recently updated book (so far as I've seen).

The other books, I'm sorry, .... Lonely Planet books are updated every eon, and they've got the prose style of a VCR instruction manual. Rough Guides, while quite literate, lack the phone numbers, dates, and times that are the bread and butter of budget travel guides. The Frommer's and Fodor's guides to Austria are a joke: they have few listings outside of 4 star hotels, and could have been written by the tourist offices! The point of Aus/Switz is its natural beauty, and appreciating that is facilitated by good info, not by spending cash.

One note: the focus here is for the budget traveler. Those with money will benefit from this, as many of the most friendly places in Austria are cheap (like Privatzimmer and family-run Pensionen). However, the other, mostly older travelers who want to stay in posh hotels and would rather take a cable car than go hiking might want to get a book like Frommer's, or just do whatever the local tourist office tells you to do.

This book is not a history of Austria-as the title indicates, it is a history of the Habsburgs, the hereditary rulers of Austria. As I mentioned in my review of Brook-Shepherd's book, "The Austrians" (a book that is complementary to this one, with relatively little overlap), there really isn't a great deal of material available in English on Austrian history-at least not on events taking place before the latter half of the 19th century.

From the traditional historical point of view-that in which history is the chronology recounting of war and changes in power-nothing of significance really happened in Austria that wasn't somehow associated with the Habsburgs. Whether or not this is the case is the subject of a different book-the subject of this one is the Habsburg family itself. Although their presence lasted longer in Austria than anywhere else, this powerful family also ruled the Netherlands, and Spain, and often provided the figurehead for the Holy Roman Empire.

Probably to an extent greater than any other royal house, the Habsburgs had their greatest successes not on the battlefield, but in the bedroom. They married their way to what at one point was the largest empire in the world, encompassing not only the majority of the German-speaking lands, but also the Lowlands, the Iberian peninsula, and the Spanish territories in North and South America, and Asia. Quite a feat for a dynasty that had been chased out of their hereditary home and namesake 300 years earlier by pitchfork-wielding Swiss peasants. The Habsburg story is more concerned with the issues of power than it is with warfare, which often went quite badly for them.

Given a unique and interesting subject, the author takes a somewhat non-traditional approach. As he explains in the preface "More and more I found that the Habsburgs expressed their sense of missions and their objectives obliquely, through a kind of code." Wheatcroft attempts to show how the Habsburgs manipulated symbolism and other communication mechanisms to further their goals and to set themselves apart as the unquestionable lords of Central Europe. I think the author is only partially successful in this, although I found nothing in his approach that seemed unreasonable. Several of the author's explanations have been useful to me in interpreting symbolism that can still be seen today in Austria, such as the designation "K.K" and the gilded presence of the Order of the Golden Fleece on statues and paintings (This was a chivalric order borrowed from the Burgundians when they didn't need it any longer giving the Habsburgs an opportunity to run their own good ole boys club.)

On the negative side, I found the book difficult to read. While the subject matter certainly lends itself to confusion, dealing with an inbred family that unimaginatively reused the same names over and over again, sometimes with different numbers in different contexts for the same ruler, perhaps the author could have used a more straightforward outline. The book tends to spiral a bit, mixing up events taking place at different times in order to make a point about continuity and a repeating pattern of Habsburg behavior. I finally dog-eared the family trees appearing in the Appendix so that I could flip back to them in an attempt to keep all the cousins, nieces, and nephews straight.

This is not a traditional history. While I don't feel that the author necessarily builds totally plausible case for his conception of the Habsburgs as being Europe's premier power of propaganda, I do think that he offers genuine and useful insight. I question the execution more than the concept, which I think has some validity.

Since the Habsburgs ruled much of Europe for over 700 years, writing their history is a risky business indeed. Happily, Wheatcroft avoids the trap of getting bogged down in a plethora of dates and deaths. His solution - and the reader soon realizes the briliance of his design - is instead to focus on what it meant to be a Habsburg, and on the metaphysical identity they assumed. The Habsburgs projected themselves as possessing a special mission from God above to preserve the Catholic faith and to maintain the common weal through a perpetual, hereditary monarchy. Their various inventions - the Order of the Golden Fleece, the motto "AEIOU," their patented system of interlocking dynastic marriages - were all part of this corporate strategy. The sense of quest sustained the family throughout the Holy Roman Empire and guided leaders such as Maximilian, Phillip of Spain, Maria Theresa, and Franz-Joseph. This book is also a terrific meditation on collective memory: while most of Gemany had forgotten that a Hapsburg had once been Emperor (Rudolf 1271-1291), NO-ONE in the Habsburg dynasty lost sight of the prize. Such was the family's preparedness that upon the re-election of one of its members (Albert, 1438-51), the Habsburgs held the Imperial throne until 1918. The Kennedys, the Bushes and even the Windsors are a mere blip by comparison.

Dr. Wheatcroft, a multilingual specialist in european and ottoman medieval history, has finally published one of his most elaborated works. The Habsbursg is the result of over 30 years of research, visiting different places and reading most of the previous publications on this field. The novelty of this work lies on its explanation of Continental Europe's history through the history of a family. This book might be boring for somebody who doesn't understand that the history of a country is the history of their people, and in the middle age the most influential people in Europe were the Habsburgs. This unique family had, during 1.000 years, a very characteristic fashion of behaving, because an individual able to track his / her origins for 40 straight generations till the deepest roots of Europe has a very special perspective of history and his / her role in it. Dr. Otto von Habsburg, European Deputy and living heir of this imperial dynasty, has worked all his live in order to re-discover the concept of Europe, the same ideal tracked by his familiy by means of the Holy Roman Empire. In conclusion, for everybody interested in discovering what is behind the ideal of Europe (and its symbols, like the EU's flag), this book will be extraordinarily interesting.

This book's cover along with its catchy title enticed me to buy and read it. The unusual portrait on the front and the intriguing summary on the back raised my expectations. The writer's source of inspiration was revealed to be a historical figure, one of Freud's patients. By virtue of her association with this most famous psychiatrist, Dora's personal life and problems were destined to become forever famous. I was curious to know more about her. Unfortunately, most of the pages inside those book covers proved disappointing. Starting this unique suspense novel with no further knowledge of the real Dora, I finished it wondering why the misleading reference to Freud- who never makes an appearance in this novel- was so emphasized (to sell the book?). Although I found the well researched descriptions of life in Vienna interesting and the characters unusual, the book lacked cohesiveness. The novel's plot development, as with many other mystery stories, let me down in the usual manner. Most of the well developed details turned out ultimately to be false leads . Even clues such as the unusual title and bizarre episodes including a posthumous corpse mutilation which seemed very significant proved ultimately to have little relevance in solving the " who done it " mystery. They together with so many other clues were trips down blind alleys...I had so very much wanted all those tantalizing puzzle tidbits the author threw out to finally fit together . I couldn't make that happen but unfortunately, neither could the author.
This book contrasts the rational mystery solving approach of a very systematic and cerebral investigator with the intuitive approach of the detective's wife, Erszebet. . As she plays amateur detective she proves to be a silent rival, intent on outsmarting her spouse at his chosen profession . Erszebet's thought processes are dominated by many obsessive and despite their colorful origins-boring superstitions. These subsequently determine the course of her actions.. I will leave it to you to guess whether reason or superstition resolves this murder mystery. The ending seemed simplistic and highly disappointing after all the buildup. The poetic justice achieved in the concluding act appeared to be just too neatly contrived. That final fantasy scene failed to even render the reader the usual satisfaction one feels when good triumphs over evil. Questions were raised during that last episode which cast doubts as to whether this even was a murder case after all! (How can you gloat if it really was an accident? )
This book with its visually interesting graphic images has great potential for adaptation as a screenplay. It could make a colorful, interesting, and very watchable television mystery period piece. As great literature it falls far short.

A combination of suspense thriller, historical fiction,
who-done-it, this beautifully written and well-researched
novel will place readers in turn of the century Vienna
into a world of murder, folklore and the forensic
science of the day. I have seldom read such a literary
book that has all the page-turner qualities of a modern
suspense thriller, yet evokes its historical
setting so compellingly. I hope Jody Shields writes
more fiction like this!

Having read "Dora, An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria" the case study "The Fig Eater" is based upon, I found myself enjoying "The Fig Eater" immensely. I understood the complex relationships from having read Freud's work and it made the novel more complex and vivid. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I not read "Dora," because the story of the murder itself isn't that impressive or revolutionary, and I've read better books about Europe in the late 1800's and early 1900's ("Embers" is a must read). If you enjoyed "The Fig Eater," take the time to read "Dora." Each enhances the enjoyment of the other, and makes both interesting and provocative.