Austria, Hungary, and the Habsburgs: Central Europe c. 1683-1867.

Austria, Hungary, and the Habsburgs: Central Europe c. 1683-1867. R.J.W. Evans. Oxford University Press. [pounds sterling]55.00. xix + 337 pages. ISBN 0-19-928144-0. In this collection, Prof. Evans, the author of The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy 1550-1700, has brought together sixteen papers, of which about half have not been published before. All have been revised for publication and all are concerned either with the Monarchy as a centralising force or with the self-governing areas under it. They are arranged chronologically. The first four deal with 'absolutist enlightenment'--Maria Theresia, the Aufklarung in central Europe, the relation between culture and authority and the Monarchy's relation with Bohemia. The next four look at the increase in national spirit in east-central Europe before 1848, at national identities in central Europe, at the reign of Joseph II and at religion and nationalism in Hungary up to 1849. The third group of four look at the regions: Hungary, Bohemia, the history of German settlements in Hungary (two papers). The final group, this time of three, looks at the decisive role of Hungary after the 1840s and up to the Ausgleich. The final paper is a discussion on the meaning and validity of the term, 'Central Europe'. (A.C.T.)