Historians often depict the Habsburgs as leaders of a ramshackle empire. The Habsburgs continued to dominate Central Europe through the First World War.

Then, in just a few decades, their possessions rapidly expanded to take in a large part of Europe, stretching from Hungary to Spain, and parts of the New World and the Far East. From modest origins, the Habsburgs gained control of the Holy Roman Empire in the fifteenth century.

In The Habsburgs, Martyn Rady tells the epic story of a dynasty and the world it built - and then lost - over nearly a millennium. He serves as editor of Central Europe, one of SSEES’s journals.The definitive history of a powerful family dynasty who dominated Europe for centuries - from their rise to power to their eventual downfall. He is currently finishing a study of consociational politics in the Habsburg Monarchy and interwar Czechoslovakia, co-authored with Professor Daniel Miller and Professor Phillip Howe. He recently published a history of the Hungarian constitution, co-edited with Professor Ferenc Hörcher, as well as a study of the Slovak People's Party. Thomas Lorman is a historian of Central Europe at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. His previous book, The Habsburgs, was described in the Times Literary Supplement as 'probably the best book ever written on the Habsburgs in any language'. He has written several major works on the history of Hungary, from the medieval period to the twentieth century, but has also written on topics as diverse as the Hussites, vampirism and the Emperor Charles V. Martyn Rady is Masaryk Professor Emeritus of Central European History at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. ‘This is a very impressive book, quirkily original but also scholarly and authoritative, to be read for pleasure and serious reflection, whether in a beer hall in Prague or a pastry shop in Vienna – or a bomb shelter in Kyiv.’ (Noel Malcolm, The Daily Telegraph). ‘A masterly synthesis … a brilliantly suggestive account of central Europe from Attila to Zizek.’ (Pratinav Anil, The Times).

‘Magisterial … the breadth of Rady’s coverage is as impressive as it is eclectic, with gems scattered throughout the book.’ (Peter Frankopan, The Spectator). A New History of Central Europe (published by Allen Lane in May, 2023), Dr Thomas Lorman will be joined in discussion by the author to explore both the inspiration for this new history of the western part of the SSEES region, and the extent to which it challenges previous narratives of central and eastern Europe. To celebrate Professor Martyn Rady's new book, The Middle Kingdoms.

The habsburgs martyn rady