Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World by Richard Cockett

I have heard historians argue two things about Vienna. One: Writing about its golden age is easy; there is so much creativity from so many great characters, with contributions spanning so many fields that it is hard to go wrong. And two: Writing about Vienna’s golden age is hard. There are too many great characters, so much creativity in such a diversity of fields and so many changes in the surroundings that it is difficult to keep track, let alone tell a good story without missing something essential. Richard Cockett’s new book, it seems to me, is evidence of the second claim.

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