Exploring Vienna From Habsburgs to Now

Scottish MP Robertson, a former broadcast journalist based in Vienna, debuts with a sweeping history of the Austrian capital from its ancient Roman roots as the “fortified garrison town” Vindobona to the present day. Contending that Vienna “has been at the crossroads of European civilisations... for more than two millennia,” Robertson swiftly chronicles the city’s development after Roman settlers fled Attila the Hun’s invading forces in the fifth century through the rise of Renaissance Vienna as a place, according to the future Pope Pius II, of “unlimited” opportunities for men and women. The bulk of the book depicts Vienna’s centuries-long run as the seat of the Habsburg dynasty, detailing, among other highlights, the origins of the city’s coffee-house tradition in the failed 1683 siege by Ottoman forces and Empress Maria Theresa’s use of marriage diplomacy to spread Habsburg influence across Europe.