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The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe
An essential new history of Central Europe, the contested lands so often at the heart of world history
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms , Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture. Central Europeans launched the Reformation and Romanticism, developed the philosophy of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and advanced some of the twentieth century’s most important artistic movements.
Drawing on a lifetime of research and scholarship, The Middle Kingdoms tells as never before the captivating story of two thousand years of Central Europe’s history and its enduring significance in world affairs.
Central Europe has long been infamous as a region beset by war, a place where empires clashed and world wars began. In The Middle Kingdoms , Martyn Rady offers the definitive history of the region, demonstrating that Central Europe has always been more than merely the fault line between West and East. Even as Central European powers warred with their neighbors, the region developed its own cohesive identity and produced tremendous accomplishments in politics, society, and culture. Central Europeans launched the Reformation and Romanticism, developed the philosophy of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and advanced some of the twentieth century’s most important artistic movements.
Drawing on a lifetime of research and scholarship, The Middle Kingdoms tells as never before the captivating story of two thousand years of Central Europe’s history and its enduring significance in world affairs.
640 pages, Hardcover
First published May 2, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
April 27, 2025
This made me think of those giant jigsaw puzzles of yesteryear. Are they still around—the ones of famous paintings that used to come flat in a box—the Haywains and the Laughing Cavaliers?
I remember the easy bits here and there that I could snap together pretty well from memory. But then came the rest; all those empty spaces that connected everything up. No chance I could fill those in without the picture on the box. It can be startling, finding out how sketchy you are about something you thought you knew.
For the seriously giant puzzle of Central European history, The Middle Kingdoms supplies the indispensable picture on the box. And let’s be clear. The subject is not the Central Europe many of us grew up with―that tense, Cold War arc of real estate between West Germany and the USSR. Oh, no. This is a majestically wider take on place and time; the story of that grand historical Middle Europe that kept the Rhine for its western border (and so included Germany), stretched east at times to the Baltic states and Ukraine and then on southward into the Balkans. The Middle Kingdoms picks up the tale from a declining Roman Empire and continues with verve and pace through 500 or so pages to the more-or-less present (it was first published in 2023).
The synthesis and the accomplishment are staggering.
I remember the easy bits here and there that I could snap together pretty well from memory. But then came the rest; all those empty spaces that connected everything up. No chance I could fill those in without the picture on the box. It can be startling, finding out how sketchy you are about something you thought you knew.
For the seriously giant puzzle of Central European history, The Middle Kingdoms supplies the indispensable picture on the box. And let’s be clear. The subject is not the Central Europe many of us grew up with―that tense, Cold War arc of real estate between West Germany and the USSR. Oh, no. This is a majestically wider take on place and time; the story of that grand historical Middle Europe that kept the Rhine for its western border (and so included Germany), stretched east at times to the Baltic states and Ukraine and then on southward into the Balkans. The Middle Kingdoms picks up the tale from a declining Roman Empire and continues with verve and pace through 500 or so pages to the more-or-less present (it was first published in 2023).
The synthesis and the accomplishment are staggering.
August 21, 2023
Well researched and exceptionally readable, this is an excellent overview of the history of Central Europe.
Rady does a good job of creating a narrative that makes the information (of which there is a LOT) easily digestible and compelling, and he ranges around in a way that feels both approachable for those new to the subject and worthy for those who come in with a bit more background.
I do wish the distribution had been a bit different. Less time spent on Ancient Rome and WWI and WWII, as these are time periods for which there is plenty of information available elsewhere about the region. Since the book was created to shine light on a neglected area (geographically speaking) in the framework of western history, I would have preferred that more of the book was devoted to the time periods about which that is actually true.
We all know what was going on in this area during the World Wars, and it makes sense that this was included for completeness’ sake, but I would have preferred Rady allot more real estate in the book for the period of 1400 to 1900, which is where this area has truly suffered from a lack of attention compared to other parts of the western world when it comes to how history is taught.
The late HRE is particularly neglected in most historical curricula, and it’s a fascinating time period for the region. Rady certainly discusses it, but I would have liked to see more of this, as well as more of the fascinating situation unfolding in the area in the mid-late 1800s, which could easily have been achieved by including less from time periods which have been well-documented broadly.
Still, Rady has a lovely narrative nonfiction writing style, and the research is excellent.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Rady does a good job of creating a narrative that makes the information (of which there is a LOT) easily digestible and compelling, and he ranges around in a way that feels both approachable for those new to the subject and worthy for those who come in with a bit more background.
I do wish the distribution had been a bit different. Less time spent on Ancient Rome and WWI and WWII, as these are time periods for which there is plenty of information available elsewhere about the region. Since the book was created to shine light on a neglected area (geographically speaking) in the framework of western history, I would have preferred that more of the book was devoted to the time periods about which that is actually true.
We all know what was going on in this area during the World Wars, and it makes sense that this was included for completeness’ sake, but I would have preferred Rady allot more real estate in the book for the period of 1400 to 1900, which is where this area has truly suffered from a lack of attention compared to other parts of the western world when it comes to how history is taught.
The late HRE is particularly neglected in most historical curricula, and it’s a fascinating time period for the region. Rady certainly discusses it, but I would have liked to see more of this, as well as more of the fascinating situation unfolding in the area in the mid-late 1800s, which could easily have been achieved by including less from time periods which have been well-documented broadly.
Still, Rady has a lovely narrative nonfiction writing style, and the research is excellent.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
January 24, 2024
"The Middle Kingdoms" is an excellent history of the development of Central Europe.
It is a story that starts with the Roman Empire and the migrations caused by the Huns. This eventually morphs into Charlamange's Empire and, in time, the Avars and Slavs. Soon will come Germans and other invaders, ending with the toxic malignancy of Nazi and then Communist rule.
Rady's trip through history is engaging and very interesting. As with any good history, it teaches us new things and provides a different outlook on Central Europe. He argues the birth of the region started in 1000 CE with Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor. The rise of Christianity as a powerful religion and force is entrenched during this period.
During the 1500's there were many surprising progressive ideas fulminating in Central Europe. It launched the Protestant Reformation, and in time was the key driver of the explosion of diets, assemblies, self-governing communities, and local autonomies that uniquely guided the medeival development of the region.
From the 16th century onwards, Central Europe became the seat of the Hapsburg power base. This caused a great deal of future conflict in the way nations were created or partitioned. Eventually, wars like the Napoleonic and World War One will cause great upheavals in the established order. World War II would see the arrival of monstrous ideologies like Nazism and Communism. The long-term ethical, moral, societal, and political consequences of Communist misrule and cruelty are still on display.
The book ends on an uncertain note due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which seems to have caught the Europeans with their pants down (never forget these idiots were giving hundreds of billions in gas money to Russia) and then realized their militaries were nothing to speak of in the face of Russian aggression. Gee..who could have seen that coming?
Excellent history of Central Europe for those interested in a look at the big events that shaped this complex part of the world.
It is a story that starts with the Roman Empire and the migrations caused by the Huns. This eventually morphs into Charlamange's Empire and, in time, the Avars and Slavs. Soon will come Germans and other invaders, ending with the toxic malignancy of Nazi and then Communist rule.
Rady's trip through history is engaging and very interesting. As with any good history, it teaches us new things and provides a different outlook on Central Europe. He argues the birth of the region started in 1000 CE with Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor. The rise of Christianity as a powerful religion and force is entrenched during this period.
During the 1500's there were many surprising progressive ideas fulminating in Central Europe. It launched the Protestant Reformation, and in time was the key driver of the explosion of diets, assemblies, self-governing communities, and local autonomies that uniquely guided the medeival development of the region.
From the 16th century onwards, Central Europe became the seat of the Hapsburg power base. This caused a great deal of future conflict in the way nations were created or partitioned. Eventually, wars like the Napoleonic and World War One will cause great upheavals in the established order. World War II would see the arrival of monstrous ideologies like Nazism and Communism. The long-term ethical, moral, societal, and political consequences of Communist misrule and cruelty are still on display.
The book ends on an uncertain note due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine which seems to have caught the Europeans with their pants down (never forget these idiots were giving hundreds of billions in gas money to Russia) and then realized their militaries were nothing to speak of in the face of Russian aggression. Gee..who could have seen that coming?
Excellent history of Central Europe for those interested in a look at the big events that shaped this complex part of the world.
May 8, 2025
Istorinės knygos būna dviejų tipų – tos, labiau tokios akademinės, kurias skaitant kankina tokia sausra, kad norisi alaus bokalo, ir kitos, labiau populiariai bandančios papasakoti tą patį. Ši – tokia, kaip ir nagrinėjamas objektas, per vidurį. Vis tik gal kiek labiau nusvyranti į akademinę pusę, bet ne tokia troškinanti.
Vidurio Europa – tas regionas tarp Rytų ir Vakarų (na, taip, ir patys iš pavadinimo galite susivokti), kurio istorija tampriai susijusi ir įtakojama abiejų tų pusių. Ir autorius nagrinėja, kaip ta įtaka veikė procesus Vidurio Europoje. Gal vietomis kiek per plačiai užsimota, pasistengta panagrinėti visais įmanomais aspektais – religiniais, ekonominiais, kultūriniais. Todėl neišvengta ir pasikartojimų.
Kaip ten bebūtų – skaityti buvo įdomu, bet ne tiek, kad praryčiau vienu ypu, tad vartojau tą patiekalą mažais kąsneliais.
Vidurio Europa – tas regionas tarp Rytų ir Vakarų (na, taip, ir patys iš pavadinimo galite susivokti), kurio istorija tampriai susijusi ir įtakojama abiejų tų pusių. Ir autorius nagrinėja, kaip ta įtaka veikė procesus Vidurio Europoje. Gal vietomis kiek per plačiai užsimota, pasistengta panagrinėti visais įmanomais aspektais – religiniais, ekonominiais, kultūriniais. Todėl neišvengta ir pasikartojimų.
Kaip ten bebūtų – skaityti buvo įdomu, bet ne tiek, kad praryčiau vienu ypu, tad vartojau tą patiekalą mažais kąsneliais.
February 14, 2024
Rady is a good introduction to the the history of Mitteleuropa. He begins with the Romans and the various migrations that swept across the continent. He includes Germany (and the western Rhinelands), which I don't typically include in Central Europe; perhaps that is post WWII thinking on my part. As is the way of such works, the coverage of more recent times gets a lot more ink. Rady is good at noting ways in which Mitteleuropa differed from the West and how they influenced each other. I learned a lot about the rise of the pernicious bureaucratic state, communism and its fall, Czech theatre and cinema, and much else. The book is very readable; my attention rarely flagged. Rady also has a good sense of humor and gets off a few zingers. If your knowledge of the area is spotty, like mine, this is an excellent way to fill gaps and get some recommendations for further reading.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 18, 2024
An extra chonky overview of central Europe from the fall of the Roman empire through today.
Fantastically researched and with a strong narrative element throughout. It was enjoyable and informative, as I knew next to nothing about central Europe going in (aside from WWI and WWII and the interwar period) and knew quite a bit more going out.
Anywho, it's a good start. Rady provides a lot of necessary context, which I liked.
Fantastically researched and with a strong narrative element throughout. It was enjoyable and informative, as I knew next to nothing about central Europe going in (aside from WWI and WWII and the interwar period) and knew quite a bit more going out.
Anywho, it's a good start. Rady provides a lot of necessary context, which I liked.
April 25, 2023
First of all this has nothing to do with China. The Kingdoms that Rady writes about are those in Central Europe.
It begins with those provinces of the Roman Empire that were south of the Danube, After the fall of Rome, many of the countries that survived, such as parts of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Lithuania and later Prussia and the Hapsburg (Austria).
He then goes thru the history of how the different empires grew and disappeared until Austro-Hungary and the German Empire controlled most of the area that we think of as Central Europe. Well written and explained.
It begins with those provinces of the Roman Empire that were south of the Danube, After the fall of Rome, many of the countries that survived, such as parts of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Lithuania and later Prussia and the Hapsburg (Austria).
He then goes thru the history of how the different empires grew and disappeared until Austro-Hungary and the German Empire controlled most of the area that we think of as Central Europe. Well written and explained.
November 29, 2024
Labai reikalingas darbas aprašyti centrinės Europos istoriją, randant bendrus vardiklius šiam, ir mūsų, regionui.
Tačiau išpildymas nekoks. Galbūt per sunku vienoje knygoje apimti tiek daug istorinių gijų. Viskas per daug chaotiška ir gaunasi paviršutiniškai.
Tačiau išpildymas nekoks. Galbūt per sunku vienoje knygoje apimti tiek daug istorinių gijų. Viskas per daug chaotiška ir gaunasi paviršutiniškai.
March 12, 2025
Really impressive book that creates an easy to follow narrative of Central Europe over more than 1000 years. Feels like it shifts focus much more on art and culture post-WW1. I really liked those parts and would have loved to see it more throughout the book. They also might have been there but I wasn’t locked in enough and just forgot.
July 24, 2023
Rady’s history of Central Europe, in broad strokes covers the area from the post-Roman period to the end of political communism, and the region’s incorporation into the European Union.
The primary takeaways from the book are fourfold, but they are not exhaustive by a long shot.
1) Central European states defined by similar trends to Western European states in the post-Roman period: conversion to Roman Catholicism, embrace of a certain chivalric culture, a tension between the central ruler and the feudal hierarchy, religious conflict and the reformation (followed by the reimposition of Catholicism in the 17th century).
2) Central Europe broadly differs from UK (and post-Revolution in France) in its political developments post 1700. Central European states broadly (principally the German statelets of the HRE) begin to embrace a bureaucratic structure and focus on using rational means in order to achieve central aims determined from above (in the case of the Hapsburgs, the Banat of Timisoara is a prime examples). This trend, typically occurs in some states (where the tension between ruler and nobility is low due to lack of an ennobled class) but not in others (notably Poland where the Henrician settlement of the 1570s presages a complete subsumption of the state by the nobility until the final partition in 1795 and Poland’s erasure from the map for the next 123 years).
3) “The nation precedes the state” in Central Europe, where ethnic identity (based around culture, language, and religion) occurred in a looser, less centralized fashion than the imposition, for instance, of a “French” identity by Parisians on the subsidiary parts of France already within its orbit. Early causes of this diversity are fascinating in that some trace back to the Migrations Period (the Huns in the 9th century most prominently) and others due to land-use policy (the invitation by nobility east of the Elbe of Frisian and German immigrants to work the land in the 13th century for specific rights, similarly in Transylvania in their mini-Saxony). In contrast to say China, where the state preceded the nation (that is where unification occurred relative early or concomitantly with the emergence of a common culture embodied/propagated in the five classics), Central Europe saw ethnic and national identities—formulated and brewed in the 19th century under pressure—precede and presage the emergence of nation-states. Nation-states built on deportations, large-scale genocide and discriminatory practices (for instance, the exclusion of Jews from university altogether in 1939 Czechoslovakia).
4) The region exists on a (imperfect) east-west cline when it comes to development (something that is apparent in the population density difference of the German lands in the High Middle Ages of around 7 people per sq mile versus 2 for Poland/Poland iirc) to serfdom versus free holding farms. This gradient is imperfect and is complicated by the role of Ukraine as a place for escaping serfs (similar to the James C Scott’s conception of Zomia as a place, not of “backwardness” but where people intentionally chose to flee the state) and the eventual emergence of a unified German state under the auspices of Prussia and the Hohenzollerns.
The primary takeaways from the book are fourfold, but they are not exhaustive by a long shot.
1) Central European states defined by similar trends to Western European states in the post-Roman period: conversion to Roman Catholicism, embrace of a certain chivalric culture, a tension between the central ruler and the feudal hierarchy, religious conflict and the reformation (followed by the reimposition of Catholicism in the 17th century).
2) Central Europe broadly differs from UK (and post-Revolution in France) in its political developments post 1700. Central European states broadly (principally the German statelets of the HRE) begin to embrace a bureaucratic structure and focus on using rational means in order to achieve central aims determined from above (in the case of the Hapsburgs, the Banat of Timisoara is a prime examples). This trend, typically occurs in some states (where the tension between ruler and nobility is low due to lack of an ennobled class) but not in others (notably Poland where the Henrician settlement of the 1570s presages a complete subsumption of the state by the nobility until the final partition in 1795 and Poland’s erasure from the map for the next 123 years).
3) “The nation precedes the state” in Central Europe, where ethnic identity (based around culture, language, and religion) occurred in a looser, less centralized fashion than the imposition, for instance, of a “French” identity by Parisians on the subsidiary parts of France already within its orbit. Early causes of this diversity are fascinating in that some trace back to the Migrations Period (the Huns in the 9th century most prominently) and others due to land-use policy (the invitation by nobility east of the Elbe of Frisian and German immigrants to work the land in the 13th century for specific rights, similarly in Transylvania in their mini-Saxony). In contrast to say China, where the state preceded the nation (that is where unification occurred relative early or concomitantly with the emergence of a common culture embodied/propagated in the five classics), Central Europe saw ethnic and national identities—formulated and brewed in the 19th century under pressure—precede and presage the emergence of nation-states. Nation-states built on deportations, large-scale genocide and discriminatory practices (for instance, the exclusion of Jews from university altogether in 1939 Czechoslovakia).
4) The region exists on a (imperfect) east-west cline when it comes to development (something that is apparent in the population density difference of the German lands in the High Middle Ages of around 7 people per sq mile versus 2 for Poland/Poland iirc) to serfdom versus free holding farms. This gradient is imperfect and is complicated by the role of Ukraine as a place for escaping serfs (similar to the James C Scott’s conception of Zomia as a place, not of “backwardness” but where people intentionally chose to flee the state) and the eventual emergence of a unified German state under the auspices of Prussia and the Hohenzollerns.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2023
Really wonderful representation of a fairly unknown or misunderstood region.
In my experience, the viewpoint of many Americans or "westerners" is that Europe is a region that roughly ends at the eastern borders of Germany, Austria and Italy (aka the Iron Curtain). I have experienced and heard that many people who lived through or grew up during or relatively soon after the fall of communism don't know much about the lands east of that line until you reach Russia.
One of the main objectives of this book is to reintroduce the idea of Central Europe as a region, an idea that existed up until the end of WW2 but was overridden by the Iron Curtain. In doing this, the book shows repeatedly that Central Europe (loosely encompassing Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and sometimes the Baltic states, Ukraine, Romania and the Balkans) is a region with unified historical movements starting with the Roman Empire, all influencing trends toward further unique developments that lead to the modern day.
Rady's journey leads us through early medieval times, the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire, the intricacies of political states all across the region, religious reform, the affirming of imperial powers, all the wars in between and eventual collapse of authoritarian governments in modern times. Rady does an excellent job planting the seeds which affect later events and it becomes clear how these seeds grow to influence historical sweeps. Every chapter gives a historical chronology of the chapter's subject and includes specific case studies. I found this to be very effective at conveying the themes and points.
The only reason I give this 4 out of 5 is that the period from the Roman Empire to the reign of Emperor Otto III in the late 10th century is covered in a break-neck 50 or so pages. I would have liked a little more detail on the movements of the Huns and Slavs, and more about Charlemagne founding the HRE and the split of Frankia's regions. Would have been fine with 600 pages to fit those in instead of 515.
Overall highly recommend, and hope this accessible book leads to more people in the west becoming curious about the fascinating region.
In my experience, the viewpoint of many Americans or "westerners" is that Europe is a region that roughly ends at the eastern borders of Germany, Austria and Italy (aka the Iron Curtain). I have experienced and heard that many people who lived through or grew up during or relatively soon after the fall of communism don't know much about the lands east of that line until you reach Russia.
One of the main objectives of this book is to reintroduce the idea of Central Europe as a region, an idea that existed up until the end of WW2 but was overridden by the Iron Curtain. In doing this, the book shows repeatedly that Central Europe (loosely encompassing Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and sometimes the Baltic states, Ukraine, Romania and the Balkans) is a region with unified historical movements starting with the Roman Empire, all influencing trends toward further unique developments that lead to the modern day.
Rady's journey leads us through early medieval times, the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire, the intricacies of political states all across the region, religious reform, the affirming of imperial powers, all the wars in between and eventual collapse of authoritarian governments in modern times. Rady does an excellent job planting the seeds which affect later events and it becomes clear how these seeds grow to influence historical sweeps. Every chapter gives a historical chronology of the chapter's subject and includes specific case studies. I found this to be very effective at conveying the themes and points.
The only reason I give this 4 out of 5 is that the period from the Roman Empire to the reign of Emperor Otto III in the late 10th century is covered in a break-neck 50 or so pages. I would have liked a little more detail on the movements of the Huns and Slavs, and more about Charlemagne founding the HRE and the split of Frankia's regions. Would have been fine with 600 pages to fit those in instead of 515.
Overall highly recommend, and hope this accessible book leads to more people in the west becoming curious about the fascinating region.
December 6, 2024
"Pasak protestanto reformatoriaus Martyno Liuterio, turkai tuokdavosi su šunimis, ir iš šios sąjungos gimdavo mišrūnai. Kadangi pranašas Mahometas neva irgi buvęs šuo ir kartais vaizduotas su šuns galva, iš to radosi požiūris, kad visi musulmonai - galimi šuniagalviai."
"Šiuolaikinė valstybė gimė Vidurio Europoje - ten biurokratija pirmiausiai susilydė su ankstyvąja Apšvieta. Anglijoje, Prancūzijoje ir Šiaurės Amerikoje Apšvieta labiausiai skatino asmens laisvę, o Vidurio Europoje - valstybę ir valdžios teisę valdyti įsakais."
"Tacito aprašytos jaunatviškos gentys, vaikiškai besivaržančios tarpusavyje, atitiko romėnų stereotipus apie užsienio tautas: jų žmonės arba bjaurios išvaizdos, arba žaismingi, bet aikštingi nebrendėliai, reikalingi romėnų globos ir gero pavyzdžio. <...> Būtent romėnai pirmieji ir pavadino Vidurio Europos tautas germanais, mat jos pačios neturėjo savivardžio ar kokio nors bendros tapatybės suvokimo."
"Šiandien istorikai dažnai perdeda hunų stiprybę ir jų imperiją vaizduoja kaip valstybę, bet jokios valstybės nebuvo. Buvo padrikas hunų, germanų ir gotų genčių telkinys, kurio vienybę palaikė nuožmus ir ambicingas valdovas. Šio nelikus, jis suiro. <...> Hunų palikimas buvo ir plačios Vidurio Europos dalies kultūrinis bei ekonominis skurdas."
"Pirmasis jų karalius, apie kurį turime konkrečių žinių, buvo Childerikas (mirė 481 m. po Kr.), priklausęs vadinamųjų Merovingų valdovų dinastijai - jie buvo pavadinti vienos jūrinių gyvačių padermės vardu."
"<...> galima manyti, kad rytinėje Vidurio Europos dalyje (dabar apimančioje Čekiją, Vengriją, Lenkiją, Rumuniją ir Slovakiją) pirmame tūkstantmetyje gyventojų tankumas buvo mažesnis nei vienas žmogus kvadratiniame kilometre. O štai dabartinės Vokietijos teritorijoje galėjo būti aštuoni kvadratiniame kilometre."
"Pirmoji didelė valstybė, kuri subyrėjo ir paskui vėl atsikūrė, buvo Frankų imperija. Ji ėmė irti beveik tuoj pat po Karolio Didžiojo mirties."
"Jeigu tik regionai gali turėti gimimo liudijimus, tai Vidurio Europos gimimo liudijimas yra Otono III evangelijų knyga."
"Iš suirusios Karolingų imperijos ir vengrų proveržio gimė nauja Vidurio Europa, materialiai paremta vergų prekyba. Visai kaip hunai, kurie perbraižė Europos žemėlapį sugriovę Romos imperiją, vengrai permainė Vidurio Europos politinę geografiją."
"Tipiškas pono būdas kaupti savo galią buvo pažadant "apsaugą" - paprastai bažnyčioms ir vienuolynams. Toji apsauga dažnai būdavo gana reali, bet kartais jai apibūdinti labiau tikdavo žodis "reketas"."
"Pamarėnų prekyba su tolimąja šiaure Vidurio Europai davė Pomeranijos špicą. Iš pradžių tai buvo stiprus rogių šuo, panašus į haskį, bet ilgainiui veisiant žiauriai sumažintas."
"Jo akimis, vengrai esą kresni, stamantrūs, tamsiaodžiai ir aršūs; lenkai, nors gražesnės išvaizdos, gyvena tarp baisingų būtybių, kaip antai vienaragių, kentaurų ir tigrų; o čekai - vagys."
"Daugelyje Vidurio Europos kraštų karaliai ir valdovai savo lovose retai miegodavo ramiai, nes sosto siekė broliai bei sūnūs, dažnai pasiruošę griebtis smurto."
"Relikvijas Karolis vertino beveik taip pat kaip karūnas. Visą gyvenimą keliaudamas lauždavosi į kapus ir rankiojosi kaulus bei mumifikuotas palaikų dalis visoje imperijoje. "
"Kadangi Osmanai iš Krymo chanų atėmė pajūrio miestus, chanai vis labiau kliovėsi pajamomis iš vergų prekybos ir beveik netrukdė totorių gaujoms medžioti vergus. Dauguma vergų buvo grobiami iš Lenkijos - Lietuvos bei Rusijos, bet totoriai darbavosi ir Kaukaze ieškodami čerkesių dėl jų legendinio grožio, Pagrobtuosius parduodavo Krymo uostamiestyje Kafoje - jos turguose vienu metu kartais buvo prekiaujama net trisdešimčia tūkstančių vergų. Manoma, kad nuo 1500 iki 1700 m. totoriai pagrobė ir pardavė į vergiją maždaug du milijonus lenkų, lietuvių ir rusų."
"Vidurio Europoje niekada nebuvo homogeniškų gyventojų telkinių. Paribių srityje susiliedavo įvairios kalbinės ir kultūrinės grupės, be to, būta daug migracijos iš užsienio."
"Didelėje regiono dalyje valstybė suvirškino diduomenę. O Vengrijoje ir Lenkijoje diduomenė suvirškino valstybę."
"Kitaip buvo Lenkijoje ir Lietuvoje. Čia bajorija garsiai skelbė savo narių bendras šaknis su senovine sarmatų gentimi, per šimtmečius prieš Kristaus gimimą ir po jo atklydusią per stepę dabartinėje pietų Ukrainoje. Net tuo metu daugelis lenkų ir lietuvių bajorų žinojo, kad ryšys su sarmatais yra netiesa, bet bendra legenda padėjo jiems vienytis."
"Prūsijos valstybės tarnyba liūdnai pagarsėjo tuo, kad kokius keturis šimtus karo veteranų įdarbino "uostytojais" (Schnuffer), jų užduotis buvo aptikti, kas be licencijos mala kavą. Be to, keliasdešimt pareigūnų nutvėrę gatvėje ponus ir nutraukę peruką tikrindavo, ar jo viduje yra antspaudas, liudijantį, kad dėvėtojas už šį galvos apdangalą sumokėjo reikiamą mokestį."
"Tuo metu buvo kalbama, kad imperiją dabar valdo keturios armijos: "stovinti kareivių armija, sėdinti biurokratų armija, klūpanti kunigų armija ir šliaužianti informatorių armija"."
"Drabužiai buvo brangūs, tad Vengrijoje alternatyva tapo veido plaukai, ypač ūsai - vienas stropus stebėtojas šių suskaičiavo net dvidešimt tris įvairias formas. Pasak jo, kiekviena iš jų reiškė skirtingą tautinę priklausomybę, kaip antai "slaviškasis šamo" stilius."
"Publika muziką seniai siejo su tautiniai skirtumais - pasak seno prancūzų priežodžio, "Ispanija rauda, Italija aimanuoja, Vokietija mauroja, o Flandrija staugia."
"<...> Bismarckas visą likusį gyvenimą liko rajus, daug geriantis stuobrys - galiausiai net jo gydytojas atsisakė jį gydyti ir patarė kreiptis į veterinarą."
"Antisemitizmas buvo išankstinė nuostata, kuri tik ir laukė savo valandos. Per visą istoriją žydai buvo įsivaizduojami kaip svetimi kiti, nes jų kitokia religija, apranga, mityba ir užsiėmimai. O dabar jie tarsi tapo savi, tvirtai įsitaisė vidurinėje klasėje ir pelnė vietą ant olimpiados pakylos. Bet kaimo žydų antplūdis priminė, kad ir jie yra ateiviai, vos prieš vieną ar dvi kartas gyvenę visuomenės paribyje. Tačiau kaftanus dėvintys žydai bent jau krito į akis. O integravęsi žydai, neva slepiantys savo žydiškumą po verslo kostiumu ir nauja pavarde, buvo nematomi it todėl įsivaizduojami kaip dar pavojingesni. "Dviveidžiai", "slidūs", "sukti" ir "chameleoniški" - taip dažnai buvo vadinami karjeros laiptais kylantys Vidurio Europos žydai."
"Istorijoje antisemitizmas buvo toks daugialypis kaip ir jo taikinys - tai akcentuojantis žydų kitoniškumą, tai skelbiantis, kad grėsmę kelia žydų sukultūrėjimas. Vidurio Europoje buvo ne vientisas antisemitizmas, o keletas formų, besireiškiančių skirtingai pagal laiką ir vietą."
'Vidurio Europos lankytojai iš esmės susiformavo du vaizdinius. Vieną valstiečio nuskurusiais drabužiais, kuris elgiasi kaip stuobrys, bet vis tiek pataikauja tiems, kurios pats laiko viršesniais. Kitą pareigūno, amžinai reikalaujančio popierių."
"Iš viso maždaug trečdalį Vidurio Europos gyventojų sudarė tautinės mažumos, atsidūrusios valstybėse, kuriose vyravo ne jų tauta."
"Vidurio Europoje nemažai politinių partijų ir organizacijų turėjo savo sukarintas grupuotes."
"Neskaitant vokiečių, Vidurio Europoje buvo iškeldinta apie septynis milijonus žmonių, savo ankstesnio gyvenimo liekanas jie stūmė vežimėliuose ar vežėsi dviračiais arba su vieninteliu lagaminu buvo įmesti į sunkvežimio kėbulą."
"Vidurio Europai visada kildavo grėsmių iš visų pusių, bet istoriškai baisiausios buvo negandos iš rytų."
"Šiuolaikinė valstybė gimė Vidurio Europoje - ten biurokratija pirmiausiai susilydė su ankstyvąja Apšvieta. Anglijoje, Prancūzijoje ir Šiaurės Amerikoje Apšvieta labiausiai skatino asmens laisvę, o Vidurio Europoje - valstybę ir valdžios teisę valdyti įsakais."
"Tacito aprašytos jaunatviškos gentys, vaikiškai besivaržančios tarpusavyje, atitiko romėnų stereotipus apie užsienio tautas: jų žmonės arba bjaurios išvaizdos, arba žaismingi, bet aikštingi nebrendėliai, reikalingi romėnų globos ir gero pavyzdžio. <...> Būtent romėnai pirmieji ir pavadino Vidurio Europos tautas germanais, mat jos pačios neturėjo savivardžio ar kokio nors bendros tapatybės suvokimo."
"Šiandien istorikai dažnai perdeda hunų stiprybę ir jų imperiją vaizduoja kaip valstybę, bet jokios valstybės nebuvo. Buvo padrikas hunų, germanų ir gotų genčių telkinys, kurio vienybę palaikė nuožmus ir ambicingas valdovas. Šio nelikus, jis suiro. <...> Hunų palikimas buvo ir plačios Vidurio Europos dalies kultūrinis bei ekonominis skurdas."
"Pirmasis jų karalius, apie kurį turime konkrečių žinių, buvo Childerikas (mirė 481 m. po Kr.), priklausęs vadinamųjų Merovingų valdovų dinastijai - jie buvo pavadinti vienos jūrinių gyvačių padermės vardu."
"<...> galima manyti, kad rytinėje Vidurio Europos dalyje (dabar apimančioje Čekiją, Vengriją, Lenkiją, Rumuniją ir Slovakiją) pirmame tūkstantmetyje gyventojų tankumas buvo mažesnis nei vienas žmogus kvadratiniame kilometre. O štai dabartinės Vokietijos teritorijoje galėjo būti aštuoni kvadratiniame kilometre."
"Pirmoji didelė valstybė, kuri subyrėjo ir paskui vėl atsikūrė, buvo Frankų imperija. Ji ėmė irti beveik tuoj pat po Karolio Didžiojo mirties."
"Jeigu tik regionai gali turėti gimimo liudijimus, tai Vidurio Europos gimimo liudijimas yra Otono III evangelijų knyga."
"Iš suirusios Karolingų imperijos ir vengrų proveržio gimė nauja Vidurio Europa, materialiai paremta vergų prekyba. Visai kaip hunai, kurie perbraižė Europos žemėlapį sugriovę Romos imperiją, vengrai permainė Vidurio Europos politinę geografiją."
"Tipiškas pono būdas kaupti savo galią buvo pažadant "apsaugą" - paprastai bažnyčioms ir vienuolynams. Toji apsauga dažnai būdavo gana reali, bet kartais jai apibūdinti labiau tikdavo žodis "reketas"."
"Pamarėnų prekyba su tolimąja šiaure Vidurio Europai davė Pomeranijos špicą. Iš pradžių tai buvo stiprus rogių šuo, panašus į haskį, bet ilgainiui veisiant žiauriai sumažintas."
"Jo akimis, vengrai esą kresni, stamantrūs, tamsiaodžiai ir aršūs; lenkai, nors gražesnės išvaizdos, gyvena tarp baisingų būtybių, kaip antai vienaragių, kentaurų ir tigrų; o čekai - vagys."
"Daugelyje Vidurio Europos kraštų karaliai ir valdovai savo lovose retai miegodavo ramiai, nes sosto siekė broliai bei sūnūs, dažnai pasiruošę griebtis smurto."
"Relikvijas Karolis vertino beveik taip pat kaip karūnas. Visą gyvenimą keliaudamas lauždavosi į kapus ir rankiojosi kaulus bei mumifikuotas palaikų dalis visoje imperijoje. "
"Kadangi Osmanai iš Krymo chanų atėmė pajūrio miestus, chanai vis labiau kliovėsi pajamomis iš vergų prekybos ir beveik netrukdė totorių gaujoms medžioti vergus. Dauguma vergų buvo grobiami iš Lenkijos - Lietuvos bei Rusijos, bet totoriai darbavosi ir Kaukaze ieškodami čerkesių dėl jų legendinio grožio, Pagrobtuosius parduodavo Krymo uostamiestyje Kafoje - jos turguose vienu metu kartais buvo prekiaujama net trisdešimčia tūkstančių vergų. Manoma, kad nuo 1500 iki 1700 m. totoriai pagrobė ir pardavė į vergiją maždaug du milijonus lenkų, lietuvių ir rusų."
"Vidurio Europoje niekada nebuvo homogeniškų gyventojų telkinių. Paribių srityje susiliedavo įvairios kalbinės ir kultūrinės grupės, be to, būta daug migracijos iš užsienio."
"Didelėje regiono dalyje valstybė suvirškino diduomenę. O Vengrijoje ir Lenkijoje diduomenė suvirškino valstybę."
"Kitaip buvo Lenkijoje ir Lietuvoje. Čia bajorija garsiai skelbė savo narių bendras šaknis su senovine sarmatų gentimi, per šimtmečius prieš Kristaus gimimą ir po jo atklydusią per stepę dabartinėje pietų Ukrainoje. Net tuo metu daugelis lenkų ir lietuvių bajorų žinojo, kad ryšys su sarmatais yra netiesa, bet bendra legenda padėjo jiems vienytis."
"Prūsijos valstybės tarnyba liūdnai pagarsėjo tuo, kad kokius keturis šimtus karo veteranų įdarbino "uostytojais" (Schnuffer), jų užduotis buvo aptikti, kas be licencijos mala kavą. Be to, keliasdešimt pareigūnų nutvėrę gatvėje ponus ir nutraukę peruką tikrindavo, ar jo viduje yra antspaudas, liudijantį, kad dėvėtojas už šį galvos apdangalą sumokėjo reikiamą mokestį."
"Tuo metu buvo kalbama, kad imperiją dabar valdo keturios armijos: "stovinti kareivių armija, sėdinti biurokratų armija, klūpanti kunigų armija ir šliaužianti informatorių armija"."
"Drabužiai buvo brangūs, tad Vengrijoje alternatyva tapo veido plaukai, ypač ūsai - vienas stropus stebėtojas šių suskaičiavo net dvidešimt tris įvairias formas. Pasak jo, kiekviena iš jų reiškė skirtingą tautinę priklausomybę, kaip antai "slaviškasis šamo" stilius."
"Publika muziką seniai siejo su tautiniai skirtumais - pasak seno prancūzų priežodžio, "Ispanija rauda, Italija aimanuoja, Vokietija mauroja, o Flandrija staugia."
"<...> Bismarckas visą likusį gyvenimą liko rajus, daug geriantis stuobrys - galiausiai net jo gydytojas atsisakė jį gydyti ir patarė kreiptis į veterinarą."
"Antisemitizmas buvo išankstinė nuostata, kuri tik ir laukė savo valandos. Per visą istoriją žydai buvo įsivaizduojami kaip svetimi kiti, nes jų kitokia religija, apranga, mityba ir užsiėmimai. O dabar jie tarsi tapo savi, tvirtai įsitaisė vidurinėje klasėje ir pelnė vietą ant olimpiados pakylos. Bet kaimo žydų antplūdis priminė, kad ir jie yra ateiviai, vos prieš vieną ar dvi kartas gyvenę visuomenės paribyje. Tačiau kaftanus dėvintys žydai bent jau krito į akis. O integravęsi žydai, neva slepiantys savo žydiškumą po verslo kostiumu ir nauja pavarde, buvo nematomi it todėl įsivaizduojami kaip dar pavojingesni. "Dviveidžiai", "slidūs", "sukti" ir "chameleoniški" - taip dažnai buvo vadinami karjeros laiptais kylantys Vidurio Europos žydai."
"Istorijoje antisemitizmas buvo toks daugialypis kaip ir jo taikinys - tai akcentuojantis žydų kitoniškumą, tai skelbiantis, kad grėsmę kelia žydų sukultūrėjimas. Vidurio Europoje buvo ne vientisas antisemitizmas, o keletas formų, besireiškiančių skirtingai pagal laiką ir vietą."
'Vidurio Europos lankytojai iš esmės susiformavo du vaizdinius. Vieną valstiečio nuskurusiais drabužiais, kuris elgiasi kaip stuobrys, bet vis tiek pataikauja tiems, kurios pats laiko viršesniais. Kitą pareigūno, amžinai reikalaujančio popierių."
"Iš viso maždaug trečdalį Vidurio Europos gyventojų sudarė tautinės mažumos, atsidūrusios valstybėse, kuriose vyravo ne jų tauta."
"Vidurio Europoje nemažai politinių partijų ir organizacijų turėjo savo sukarintas grupuotes."
"Neskaitant vokiečių, Vidurio Europoje buvo iškeldinta apie septynis milijonus žmonių, savo ankstesnio gyvenimo liekanas jie stūmė vežimėliuose ar vežėsi dviračiais arba su vieninteliu lagaminu buvo įmesti į sunkvežimio kėbulą."
"Vidurio Europai visada kildavo grėsmių iš visų pusių, bet istoriškai baisiausios buvo negandos iš rytų."
August 17, 2023
Prachtig boek, absoluut. Rady schetst een zeer interessant beeld van Midden-Europa, waarbij hij duidelijk maakt dat er een aantal verschillen zijn met de West-Europese geschiedenis. Dat lardeert hij met allerlei prachtige verhalen, in de stijl van Simon Winder.
Ook een aantal kritische noten. Van sommige anekdotes is niet helemaal duidelijk wat hij er mee duidelijk wil maken. Maar vooral: hij gooit wat mij betreft Duitsland en de rest van de landen wel erg op een hoop: het is allemaal Midden-Europa. Voorbeelden uit Friesland, Slovenië, Kroatië en Zwitserland moeten een aantal tendenzen bewijzen, waarbij je soms denkt: hebben we het nu over Centraal of over heel Europa?
Ook een aantal kritische noten. Van sommige anekdotes is niet helemaal duidelijk wat hij er mee duidelijk wil maken. Maar vooral: hij gooit wat mij betreft Duitsland en de rest van de landen wel erg op een hoop: het is allemaal Midden-Europa. Voorbeelden uit Friesland, Slovenië, Kroatië en Zwitserland moeten een aantal tendenzen bewijzen, waarbij je soms denkt: hebben we het nu over Centraal of over heel Europa?
August 3, 2024
8My main feedback is that the book desperately needs maps. Graphic timelines would help in some parts where Rady jumps back and forth or covers a larger period of time too, as would clearer titles for the chapter. Even having read the book I would struggle to go back and find specific periods and events based on the chapter titles.
I do not feel that it does justice to the history of the 20th century do to necessary brevity. The book starts promising, but I found myself labouring to get through a big chunk of the early Middle ages - it is not my primary period of interest, and there is an awful lot of small kingdoms coming and going. For me, the best parts of the book are the parts that cover the 17th to 19th centry.
However, I was looking for an overview of central European history, and the book provides exactly that in a fairly accessible format (and just adding more and clearer maps would make it a far better reading experience, I believe).
I do not feel that it does justice to the history of the 20th century do to necessary brevity. The book starts promising, but I found myself labouring to get through a big chunk of the early Middle ages - it is not my primary period of interest, and there is an awful lot of small kingdoms coming and going. For me, the best parts of the book are the parts that cover the 17th to 19th centry.
However, I was looking for an overview of central European history, and the book provides exactly that in a fairly accessible format (and just adding more and clearer maps would make it a far better reading experience, I believe).
November 3, 2023
ROYAL READS PROJECT 2023
May 30, 2023
The first hundred or so pages felt a bit of a slog -- not much more than a stream of Frankish kings, Slav dukes, and Turkic invaders from the Caucasus steppe. But around Chapter 6 or 7, Rady hits his stride, or perhaps finally gets to the point in history where there's enough content for him to work with. He does a good job of weaving together what's happening with the kings with what's happening with the peasants. Throughout it all, he continually tries to answer the question -- why did Central Europe turn out so different politically and socially from Western Europe. And in 9 pages, his concluding chapter does an excellent job of summarizing 2,000 years and 650+ pages of Central European history.
October 3, 2024
I have a few criticisms of the book. First, it is structured chronologically but since the chapters more thematic and overlapped with each other, it was harder at times to place events in context. Further to that point, there was a lack of contextualization with other global events and movements that portrayed a more isolated evolution of Central Europe (although I could see how that could have been the authors intent). However, from the 19th century on, there was clearly more interconnectedness as conflict broke out during the two World Wars. My last critique is that it assumes the reader’s geographic and historical proficiency, particularly with the Middle Ages, in which I admit I am lacking.
Overall, this book was exactly what I was looking for: a broad overview of the development of Central Europe from the Roman Empire into the modern age. The second half of the book was very enjoyable to read and easier to contextualize with my knowledge of Western European history.
Overall, this book was exactly what I was looking for: a broad overview of the development of Central Europe from the Roman Empire into the modern age. The second half of the book was very enjoyable to read and easier to contextualize with my knowledge of Western European history.
August 11, 2023
This was an extremely comprehensive and well researched summary of a massive swathe of history of a very tumultuous region. Rady does well to spend time highlighting themes and larger movements(culturally, politically, and ideologically) as opposed to dwelling on specific events, while still noting their importance. Although the chronology could get confusing at times, it was written in the best way possible to cover so many topics and regions over such a vast amount of time. Rady takes a somewhat pessimistic and cautious view of Central Europe’s future based on its rocky and violent past, but in the end, he demonstrates the urgency of studying and paying attention to history in order to understand the world around us. 4.5 Stars.
May 17, 2024
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS BOOK.
It was my "on desk" book, ready for when I needed something to read while working the adult reference desk at my library. I could pick up right where I left off no matter where I was.
This is a fantastic comprehensive history of Central Europe, something I've been trying to find for awhile. It answered all of my questions and more. It was incredibly readable. While it would probably help if you have some familiarity with European history, I think it is still a good read for anyone casually interested in the subject. Thorough and comprehensive, I would definitely assign it, or some chapters, to a class. It concludes with the 21st century so it really is a history of Central Europe.
It was my "on desk" book, ready for when I needed something to read while working the adult reference desk at my library. I could pick up right where I left off no matter where I was.
This is a fantastic comprehensive history of Central Europe, something I've been trying to find for awhile. It answered all of my questions and more. It was incredibly readable. While it would probably help if you have some familiarity with European history, I think it is still a good read for anyone casually interested in the subject. Thorough and comprehensive, I would definitely assign it, or some chapters, to a class. It concludes with the 21st century so it really is a history of Central Europe.
Shelved as 'i-quit'
June 10, 2023I gave it 200 pages and just could not get into this book. It’s unusual given that this is my favorite kind of book, and the content is something I am super interested in. I’m not sure where the disconnect is but I’m constantly reading a page or two, and then putting it down and going to something else. I have so many other books to read right now, especially author gifts, that I can’t keep dicking around and wasting time on a book that I am just not vibing with. I might come back to it in the future.
January 31, 2025
An interesting book on the history of Central Europe. I mostly really enjoyed the read and there were parts that were hard to put down. The book sometimes seemed to go too quickly over certain subjects and then skip around in time and place a bit too much, but this might have been the best way to write about such a broad subject. It was definitely interesting and I loved the full region overview.
April 7, 2025
Exceptional writing, terrible maps
April 20, 2025
A very ambitious project to cover the history of the region from antiquity to recent history. And an interesting idea to divide it into largely thematic chapters. Although necessarily not always very in depth analysis, given the breath of the scope, it was very interesting and enjoyable.
June 29, 2023
Central Europe has found itself at the crossroads of developments in both the western, southern, and eastern portions of its domains for well over one thousand years. Being introduced to the evolution of Mid-Europa, as it has been called, is surely an exercise which will maintain reader interest if told in even a halfway competent manner.
Martin Rady manages to relay central Europe’s history in clear, easy-to-follow prose in The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe. Starting in the days of Arianism Christianity-the first foothold the Christian faith gained in the region-the book tells of a land ripped in different directions by religion, ethnicity, and tradition.
The beginning of statehoods in Mid-Europa really gets underway with the uniting of the Frankish tribes under Emperor Clovis, the first Catholic Frankish leader, in the late fifth century. From the Merovingian into the Carolingian dynasty, The Middle Kingdoms looked at the ups and downs of early attempts at state building in this part of Europe.
The Huns in the western portion of Mid-Europa prove an early threat to the Roman Empire’s border region, and the Mongolian Tartars in the eastern portion go on to have a big part to play in Rus Kiev and Hungary’s early development.
Even the throwaway scraps of information are of interest, as when Rady notes that the inaugural Carolingian king, Pepin I, was the first central European leader to be anointed with oil. His son Charlemagne would have a big impact on the book’s early chapters; his uniting of the Lombards, Germanic, and Frankish peoples would have major implications for the region’s evolution.
In no portion of the book is this division more crystallized than when it comes to the creation and influence of the Holy Roman Empire.
The empire’s post-Charlemagne succession of leaders began to be coronated in Lombardy in the 900s, with a nail allegedly from the actual cross of Christ on the Crown of Lombardy. Emperor Louis the Pious (Charlemagne’s son) and his wife Judith of Bavaria are just a sampling of the colorful characters which populate The Middle Kingdom’s pages.
Readers will not just be treated to a series of dates and dry facts; for example, the Germanic Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV’s excommunication by Pope Gregory VII in the late eleventh century made for an incredible side story of its own. In 1084, a furious Henry IV decided to put in power an antipope of his own -Clement III-who went ahead and re-crowned Henry Holy Roman Emperor. This row led to Pope Gregory VII allegedly attempting an assassination of Henry to get even.
Even discovering the origins of the Cyrilic alphabet made for hard to put down reading. This script, allegedly named for Saint Cyril of Alexandria, became a flash point as different central European Christian sects had a hard time accepting this as the alphabet of choice over Latin. The east-west division was exemplified by religious squabbling like this; disagreements over how much influence the Catholic Church in Rome or the Orthodox Church in Byzantium would hold in particular areas were huge reasons for divisiveness.
Religious arguments became even more intense with the advent of Protestant Christianity in the sixteenth century.
While central Europe is taken to mean the Czech Republic (Bohemia in much of the text), Poland, and Hungary in the book, these nations’ interactions with both Germany and Russia form critical components of understanding their own evolution. Clashes with the Ottomans also feature in The Middle Kingdoms. The sixteenth century siege of Vienna by Ottomans as well as numerous attempts by Hungarian and Polish crusaders to hold the Ottomans out of central Europe drive home the sense of vulnerability felt by the region.
The Turks would join the Huns in the west centuries earlier and the Tartars in the east as groups of foreign invaders who influenced the manner in which Mid-Europa’s institutions would grow and change. Poland would frequently appear as a state constantly being attacked and bargained over by outsiders, and the Turks would prove more than happy to be participants in the onslaught against Poland. King Wladyslaw III was a Polish monarch who showed dedication when trying to ensure foreign threats (in his case the Ottomans) remained at arm's length.
King Sigismund of Hungary (who would be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1433) was another compelling individual in the book. He founded the Order of the Dragon while king of Hungary. This chivalric order, as well as that of the Teutonic Knights in the Germanic lands, were institutions rooted in their specific time and place. Crusading would even take place within Europe itself in the thirteenth century when fighting between the knights and Prussians would occur. The latter were steeped in paganism and therefore, like the Ottomans, were viewed as enemies who needed to be dislodged.
Even Lithuania became a battleground in the 1200s. As with the Prussians, the Lithuanians were also pagans and therefore fair game for the Teutonic Order to go on the offensive against. The Battle on the Ice in 1242 was yet another clash in Europe which the knights took part in; this fight crystallized the threat the Mongolian Tartars posed in the continent’s contested border regions.
By the thirteenth century, however, The Middle Kingdoms notes that the emperors were beginning to be compared to a woodpecker at a rotten tree instead of the eagle which was supposed to denote the office. The 1356 Golden Bull would add more clarity to the Holy Roman Empire’s reach, instituting a righting of the ship of sorts when it came to its authority. Albert III, Duke of Austria, would put together the Austrian Chronicle of 95 Rulers; this would supposedly place the empire in a context deeply rooted in the ancient past.
Bohemia and Prague’s influence within the kingdom would steadily grow, a state of things certainly not hurt with Emperor Charles V’s ascension to the throne in 1530.
Charles V’s reign would coincide with Martin Luther’s rise to popularity. The explosion of the German Peasants War in 1524, taking place as it did so soon on the heels after Martin Luther’s open breach with the Church, was feared by contemporaries as previewing the sort of disorder questioning established authority could cause.
The Czech Jan Hus’s burning at the stake a century earlier had made clear the potential danger for those challenging the Catholic Church’s orthodoxy. The Hussite movements which had coalesced around the teachings of Hus would have considerable influence in Moravia and Bohemia, and this is analyzed by Rady in admirable detail. Charles V would be determined to hold the Protestant movement at bay and neutralize it within his borders as much as possible.
The influence of Protestantism and efforts to eradicate it within Austria would even make itself known in Austrian place names. “Church in the meadow,” “chapel meadow,” and “preaching wood” were place names which Rady listed to denote the extent Protestant worshippers had to go to in order to evade Catholic authorities.
Art and alchemy also have their place in the book.
The Augsburg-born Hans Holbein was a highly respected sixteenth century painter, and his influence even spread across the channel to Britain. During the same century, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II’s attachment to alchemy made for reading that drove home just how dedicated to this pseudoscience many in that era were.
The influence of the Enlightenment in western Europe is contrasted with its influence in Mid-Europa. Whereas in the former it was assumed that discretion was left up to the people if the law was silent, there was an opposite assumption in Mid-Europa. The subordination of individual to collective rights was, according to Rady, a component of central Europe that caused it to share more in common with Russia to its east than areas like France to its west.
King Ernest Augustus of Hanover was one of a number of monarchs who were featured in the back half of The Middle Kingdoms. Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph in Austria were two other monarchs who received starring roles as the narrative made its way toward modern times, with both of them facing complications when it came to Hungary’s place within the Habsburg empire. The increasing difficulty in holding together an empire made of a patchwork of nationalities became more than clear as the First World War approached in 1914.
Bringing central Europe out of the medieval ages and into modern times while keeping individual countries' own evolutions in context was not an easy balancing act. But it was one the author managed to pull off in an admirable manner.
More recent developments in the book cover both world wars and the collapse of Communism in the latter half of the twentieth century. The uneven trajectory since the Berlin Wall fell in many post-Communist countries as well as the dissatisfaction in some of these new democracies in the years since the 2008 recession caused the book to end on a less than jubilant note.
The Middle Kingdoms is a comprehensive look at how the Czech, Polish, and Hungarian states developed despite-and in some cases due to-constant external threats and frequent internal divisions. Their growth within the context of the Holy Roman Empire and expansive Russian czars to the east make for a constant flux. This is captured well in the book and crystallized into a coherent whole.
This book tells an easy to comprehend story whose breadth comprises a patchwork of kingdoms and cultures. It borders on five stars and really stands out as a spectacular accomplishment by Martin Rady.
-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado
Martin Rady manages to relay central Europe’s history in clear, easy-to-follow prose in The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe. Starting in the days of Arianism Christianity-the first foothold the Christian faith gained in the region-the book tells of a land ripped in different directions by religion, ethnicity, and tradition.
The beginning of statehoods in Mid-Europa really gets underway with the uniting of the Frankish tribes under Emperor Clovis, the first Catholic Frankish leader, in the late fifth century. From the Merovingian into the Carolingian dynasty, The Middle Kingdoms looked at the ups and downs of early attempts at state building in this part of Europe.
The Huns in the western portion of Mid-Europa prove an early threat to the Roman Empire’s border region, and the Mongolian Tartars in the eastern portion go on to have a big part to play in Rus Kiev and Hungary’s early development.
Even the throwaway scraps of information are of interest, as when Rady notes that the inaugural Carolingian king, Pepin I, was the first central European leader to be anointed with oil. His son Charlemagne would have a big impact on the book’s early chapters; his uniting of the Lombards, Germanic, and Frankish peoples would have major implications for the region’s evolution.
In no portion of the book is this division more crystallized than when it comes to the creation and influence of the Holy Roman Empire.
The empire’s post-Charlemagne succession of leaders began to be coronated in Lombardy in the 900s, with a nail allegedly from the actual cross of Christ on the Crown of Lombardy. Emperor Louis the Pious (Charlemagne’s son) and his wife Judith of Bavaria are just a sampling of the colorful characters which populate The Middle Kingdom’s pages.
Readers will not just be treated to a series of dates and dry facts; for example, the Germanic Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV’s excommunication by Pope Gregory VII in the late eleventh century made for an incredible side story of its own. In 1084, a furious Henry IV decided to put in power an antipope of his own -Clement III-who went ahead and re-crowned Henry Holy Roman Emperor. This row led to Pope Gregory VII allegedly attempting an assassination of Henry to get even.
Even discovering the origins of the Cyrilic alphabet made for hard to put down reading. This script, allegedly named for Saint Cyril of Alexandria, became a flash point as different central European Christian sects had a hard time accepting this as the alphabet of choice over Latin. The east-west division was exemplified by religious squabbling like this; disagreements over how much influence the Catholic Church in Rome or the Orthodox Church in Byzantium would hold in particular areas were huge reasons for divisiveness.
Religious arguments became even more intense with the advent of Protestant Christianity in the sixteenth century.
While central Europe is taken to mean the Czech Republic (Bohemia in much of the text), Poland, and Hungary in the book, these nations’ interactions with both Germany and Russia form critical components of understanding their own evolution. Clashes with the Ottomans also feature in The Middle Kingdoms. The sixteenth century siege of Vienna by Ottomans as well as numerous attempts by Hungarian and Polish crusaders to hold the Ottomans out of central Europe drive home the sense of vulnerability felt by the region.
The Turks would join the Huns in the west centuries earlier and the Tartars in the east as groups of foreign invaders who influenced the manner in which Mid-Europa’s institutions would grow and change. Poland would frequently appear as a state constantly being attacked and bargained over by outsiders, and the Turks would prove more than happy to be participants in the onslaught against Poland. King Wladyslaw III was a Polish monarch who showed dedication when trying to ensure foreign threats (in his case the Ottomans) remained at arm's length.
King Sigismund of Hungary (who would be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1433) was another compelling individual in the book. He founded the Order of the Dragon while king of Hungary. This chivalric order, as well as that of the Teutonic Knights in the Germanic lands, were institutions rooted in their specific time and place. Crusading would even take place within Europe itself in the thirteenth century when fighting between the knights and Prussians would occur. The latter were steeped in paganism and therefore, like the Ottomans, were viewed as enemies who needed to be dislodged.
Even Lithuania became a battleground in the 1200s. As with the Prussians, the Lithuanians were also pagans and therefore fair game for the Teutonic Order to go on the offensive against. The Battle on the Ice in 1242 was yet another clash in Europe which the knights took part in; this fight crystallized the threat the Mongolian Tartars posed in the continent’s contested border regions.
By the thirteenth century, however, The Middle Kingdoms notes that the emperors were beginning to be compared to a woodpecker at a rotten tree instead of the eagle which was supposed to denote the office. The 1356 Golden Bull would add more clarity to the Holy Roman Empire’s reach, instituting a righting of the ship of sorts when it came to its authority. Albert III, Duke of Austria, would put together the Austrian Chronicle of 95 Rulers; this would supposedly place the empire in a context deeply rooted in the ancient past.
Bohemia and Prague’s influence within the kingdom would steadily grow, a state of things certainly not hurt with Emperor Charles V’s ascension to the throne in 1530.
Charles V’s reign would coincide with Martin Luther’s rise to popularity. The explosion of the German Peasants War in 1524, taking place as it did so soon on the heels after Martin Luther’s open breach with the Church, was feared by contemporaries as previewing the sort of disorder questioning established authority could cause.
The Czech Jan Hus’s burning at the stake a century earlier had made clear the potential danger for those challenging the Catholic Church’s orthodoxy. The Hussite movements which had coalesced around the teachings of Hus would have considerable influence in Moravia and Bohemia, and this is analyzed by Rady in admirable detail. Charles V would be determined to hold the Protestant movement at bay and neutralize it within his borders as much as possible.
The influence of Protestantism and efforts to eradicate it within Austria would even make itself known in Austrian place names. “Church in the meadow,” “chapel meadow,” and “preaching wood” were place names which Rady listed to denote the extent Protestant worshippers had to go to in order to evade Catholic authorities.
Art and alchemy also have their place in the book.
The Augsburg-born Hans Holbein was a highly respected sixteenth century painter, and his influence even spread across the channel to Britain. During the same century, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II’s attachment to alchemy made for reading that drove home just how dedicated to this pseudoscience many in that era were.
The influence of the Enlightenment in western Europe is contrasted with its influence in Mid-Europa. Whereas in the former it was assumed that discretion was left up to the people if the law was silent, there was an opposite assumption in Mid-Europa. The subordination of individual to collective rights was, according to Rady, a component of central Europe that caused it to share more in common with Russia to its east than areas like France to its west.
King Ernest Augustus of Hanover was one of a number of monarchs who were featured in the back half of The Middle Kingdoms. Maria Theresa and Franz Joseph in Austria were two other monarchs who received starring roles as the narrative made its way toward modern times, with both of them facing complications when it came to Hungary’s place within the Habsburg empire. The increasing difficulty in holding together an empire made of a patchwork of nationalities became more than clear as the First World War approached in 1914.
Bringing central Europe out of the medieval ages and into modern times while keeping individual countries' own evolutions in context was not an easy balancing act. But it was one the author managed to pull off in an admirable manner.
More recent developments in the book cover both world wars and the collapse of Communism in the latter half of the twentieth century. The uneven trajectory since the Berlin Wall fell in many post-Communist countries as well as the dissatisfaction in some of these new democracies in the years since the 2008 recession caused the book to end on a less than jubilant note.
The Middle Kingdoms is a comprehensive look at how the Czech, Polish, and Hungarian states developed despite-and in some cases due to-constant external threats and frequent internal divisions. Their growth within the context of the Holy Roman Empire and expansive Russian czars to the east make for a constant flux. This is captured well in the book and crystallized into a coherent whole.
This book tells an easy to comprehend story whose breadth comprises a patchwork of kingdoms and cultures. It borders on five stars and really stands out as a spectacular accomplishment by Martin Rady.
-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado
August 17, 2023
A solid overview of a huge swathe of history. I am a bit wary of histories that attempt to cover such a long period and, at times, the complexity of central European history made parts of this hard to follow. While more detail would have helped at points, still enjoyed and learned some of the overarching themes still playing out in central Europe today.
June 18, 2023
Midden-Europa (wat dat dan ook moge wezen, zoals Martyn Rady zegt) heeft mij altijd geïnteresseerd. Het ligt min of meer in onze achtertuin, en toch weten we er zo weinig van. De basis over het Heilige Roomse Rijk en de twee wereldoorlogen kennen we, ja, maar zoals de auteur zelf al aangeeft: tijdens de geschiedenislessen wordt er verder maar weinig aandacht aan besteed, zeker aan de landen voorbij Duitsland, de hoofdzakelijk Slavische gebieden.
Dit boek biedt dus een overzicht van twee millennia geschiedenis van die achtertuin. Het gaat van start bij de Romeinen, waar het verhaal even op ingaat om de situatie te schetsen, om daarna de middeleeuwen in te duiken. Als je je afvraagt waarom er niet eerder gestart wordt, in de prehistorie, dan ligt dat waarschijnlijk aan het feit omdat het over de koninkrijken gaan - en die waren er eerst niet, natuurlijk. Dat is wel een beetje jammer, maar blijkbaar een specifieke keuze van de auteur.
Rady gaat in op alle aspecten van het verhaal: politiek, sociaal, cultureel en economisch. Over het algemeen zijn die ook mooi in verhouding. De politieke geschiedenis - wanneer gebeurt wat? - heeft natuurlijk de overhand, maar daarnaast worden de andere factoren toch ook heel vaak diepgaand besproken. Want diepgaand is dit boek op alle vlakken zeker wel. Alleen in de eerste hoofstukken ging het soms iets te snel, maar dat komt misschien gewoon omdat daar minder informatie over voorhanden is, waardoor het voornamelijk een aaneenschakeling is van een hoop namen van koningen. Eens je het begin achter de rug hebt, betert het.
Het grootste nadeel aan dit boek - en wat mij aan de geschiedenislessen op het middelbaar ook altijd tegenstak - is dat het gros van het verhaal gewijd is aan de recentere geschiedenis. Het boek telt 550 bladzijdes (geloof niet alles wat Goodreads beweert) en ongeveer 100 daarvan bespreken de laatste eeuw. Gelukkig wordt ook daar nog wel veel ingegaan op niet alleen de politiek. Al had ik dan nog liever de informatie wat meer gespreid gehad.
De vertaling van dit boek is allicht een huzarenstuk geweest, met letterlijk honderden namen van personen, instellingen, concepten en god weet wat nog meer. We mogen Rob de Ridder er dankbaar voor zijn, want hij levert een zo goed als vlekkeloze Nederlandse editie af. Zelfs gewone typfouten zijn slechts heel sporadisch op te merken, ik denk dat ik er vijf gespot heb ongeveer. Hij heeft zich duidelijk met overgave aan zijn taak gewijd.
6,7/10
Dit boek biedt dus een overzicht van twee millennia geschiedenis van die achtertuin. Het gaat van start bij de Romeinen, waar het verhaal even op ingaat om de situatie te schetsen, om daarna de middeleeuwen in te duiken. Als je je afvraagt waarom er niet eerder gestart wordt, in de prehistorie, dan ligt dat waarschijnlijk aan het feit omdat het over de koninkrijken gaan - en die waren er eerst niet, natuurlijk. Dat is wel een beetje jammer, maar blijkbaar een specifieke keuze van de auteur.
Rady gaat in op alle aspecten van het verhaal: politiek, sociaal, cultureel en economisch. Over het algemeen zijn die ook mooi in verhouding. De politieke geschiedenis - wanneer gebeurt wat? - heeft natuurlijk de overhand, maar daarnaast worden de andere factoren toch ook heel vaak diepgaand besproken. Want diepgaand is dit boek op alle vlakken zeker wel. Alleen in de eerste hoofstukken ging het soms iets te snel, maar dat komt misschien gewoon omdat daar minder informatie over voorhanden is, waardoor het voornamelijk een aaneenschakeling is van een hoop namen van koningen. Eens je het begin achter de rug hebt, betert het.
Het grootste nadeel aan dit boek - en wat mij aan de geschiedenislessen op het middelbaar ook altijd tegenstak - is dat het gros van het verhaal gewijd is aan de recentere geschiedenis. Het boek telt 550 bladzijdes (geloof niet alles wat Goodreads beweert) en ongeveer 100 daarvan bespreken de laatste eeuw. Gelukkig wordt ook daar nog wel veel ingegaan op niet alleen de politiek. Al had ik dan nog liever de informatie wat meer gespreid gehad.
De vertaling van dit boek is allicht een huzarenstuk geweest, met letterlijk honderden namen van personen, instellingen, concepten en god weet wat nog meer. We mogen Rob de Ridder er dankbaar voor zijn, want hij levert een zo goed als vlekkeloze Nederlandse editie af. Zelfs gewone typfouten zijn slechts heel sporadisch op te merken, ik denk dat ik er vijf gespot heb ongeveer. Hij heeft zich duidelijk met overgave aan zijn taak gewijd.
6,7/10
October 25, 2023
"The Middle Kingdoms" was a whirlwind of beige with occasional, excellent highlights. It is an inoffensive history of Central Europe that lacks a compellingly unique view. While not a textbook, I often felt similarly disengaged. The best chapter, in my opinion, explained the interactions between unique Central European cultures (Jews, Romas, etc.) and the various governments. I also enjoyed Rady's chapter on Central European Communism. (I found it to be a palatable summary of Anne Applebaum's much denser "Iron Curtain.") While "The Middle Kingdoms" frequently struggled to maintain my interest, it always had another hook to bring me back in before I jumped ship.
I found Rady's book to be full of information about which I was ambivalent but totally lacking information about which I was interested. Sometimes he would tease me with a snippet that grabbed my attention but then quickly summarize the point he was making and move on to the next topic. I can't blame him for his brevity; he covers almost 2,000 years of history in just 516 pages. But I really would have loved to learn more about the conflict between the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians, or the collapse of the Soviet empire, for example.
In summary, I don't regret reading it. In fact, I think this book would be more engaging if read physically instead of listened to. The narrator was good, but I don't think I could properly absorb the material presented to me. Some books just don't translate well to the audio format, and this is probably one.
I found Rady's book to be full of information about which I was ambivalent but totally lacking information about which I was interested. Sometimes he would tease me with a snippet that grabbed my attention but then quickly summarize the point he was making and move on to the next topic. I can't blame him for his brevity; he covers almost 2,000 years of history in just 516 pages. But I really would have loved to learn more about the conflict between the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians, or the collapse of the Soviet empire, for example.
In summary, I don't regret reading it. In fact, I think this book would be more engaging if read physically instead of listened to. The narrator was good, but I don't think I could properly absorb the material presented to me. Some books just don't translate well to the audio format, and this is probably one.
July 29, 2023
The history through the Napoleonic Era, perhaps through Bismarck, is reasonably conventional and wide-ranging, if a touch dry. It's not leavened with many of the personalities and anecdotes that make popular history page-turning, but it's a competent account of the region across roughly a millennium. My complaint is with the more recent vintage, especially the WWI and WWII histories, which cherry-pick quotes and factoids to support some rather questionable characterizations of state behavior and which cut across monumental historical disputes in a few lines, grabbing at one proffered explanation and ignoring competing ones without explaining the decision or acknowledging the existence of alternatives. The result is a history that could fill many times the pages of this one, condensed to a few dozen pages of the wider narrative. The account of Czechoslovakia's swallowing up by the Nazis seems almost to blame Prague for its occurrence, had only they been nicer to their Sudeten Germans. The last quarter-century or so is simply too fresh to make effective history, or at least history that won't be dated by the time it comes out in paperback, but Rady does not dwell excessively on them so it's forgivable. One reads the book and cannot easily draw connections between his pre-Napoleonic history and the horrors of the 20th Century; his attempts to do so are simply not that effective and others have done it better (Simon Winder, for one).
November 21, 2023
I enjoyed reading this book, mostly because it covers a good deal of history that was less familiar to me. I am more familiar with the history of Western Europe than that of Central Europe, so this book was helpful in filling gaps in my knowledge of Central European history. There were a few places I thought could be improved, but it is hard to criticize a book that has such a broad topic to cover for not covering something sufficiently. I especially appreciated the chapters that covered the history from 1000 to 1648.
April 8, 2024
This is a history of central Europe, from the middle of the 13th century to the break-up of the Soviet Union.
I'm afraid that I found this a bit of an unrewarding slog. It's over 500 pages of text, leavened only by a few monochrome maps that I found confusing and hard to interpret. You'd have to be very keen on the subject matter to wade through all of this. I'll acknowledge that I was more informed as a result of reading this book, but I still don't think it was worth the effort it took to read it.
I'm afraid that I found this a bit of an unrewarding slog. It's over 500 pages of text, leavened only by a few monochrome maps that I found confusing and hard to interpret. You'd have to be very keen on the subject matter to wade through all of this. I'll acknowledge that I was more informed as a result of reading this book, but I still don't think it was worth the effort it took to read it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews