The Red Prince: The Fall of a Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Europe

'There are few historians who possess Timothy Snyder's winning combination of languages, stylish story-telling and analytical insight; in The Red Prince, he has produced a gem' - Guardian Wilhelm von Habsburg wore the uniform of an Austrian officer, the court regalia of a Habsburg archduke, the simple suit of a Parisian exile, the decorations of the Order of the Golden Fleece and, every so often, a dress. He spoke the Italian of his archduke mother, the German of his archduke father, the English of his British royal friends, the Polish of the country his father wished to rule and the Ukrainian of the land Wilhelm wished to rule himself. Timothy Snyder's masterful biography is not only a reconstruction of the life of this extraordinary man - a man who remained loyal to his Ukrainian dreams even after the country's dissolution in 1921- but also charts the final collapse of the ancien regime in Europe and the rise of a new world order.

About the Author :
'When Timothy Snyder's book Bloodlands- Europe Between Hitler and Stalin was published in 2010, it quickly established its author as one of the leading historians of his generation, a scholar who combined formidable linguistic skills - he reads or speaks 11 languages - with an elegant literary style, white-hot moral passion and a willingness to start arguments about some of the most fraught questions of the recent past.' New York Times Timothy Snyder is Levin Professor of History at Yale University, and has written and edited a number of critically acclaimed and prize-winning books about twentieth-century European history- Bloodlands won the Hannah Arendt Prize, the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award in the Humanities and the literature award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Black Earth was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. Snyder is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and the Times Literary Supplement. He is a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a permanent fellow of the Institute for Human Sciences, and sits on the advisory council of the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research.

Review :
Riotous and engrossing Snyder's portrait of the Hapsburgs in all their eccentricity is a delight...Snyder is exceptional in bringing not only a vast expertise to the subject, but also an elegant style and a gift for narrative As a vivid portrait of a vanished world the book is superb, being both prodigiously researched and elegantly written He is one of this country's most talented and innovative historians of Central and Eastern Europe... I hugely admired The Reconstruction of Nations and eagerly look forward to The Red Prince Snyder's biography brilliantly baits his readers with a glittering subject The Red Prince adds an absorbing chapter to the story of the Habsburgs in their last days of empire Snyder's research is impeccable Timothy Snyder is one of the most remarkable and original historians of Eastern Europe in his generation. His work commands our attention Snyder's biography fully captures the chaos, intrigue, and glamour of a vanished Mitteleuropa Scrupulously researched and eye-opening