{"product_id":"danubia","title":"Danubia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Funny, erudite, frequently irritating . . . and never boring'' – Sarah Bakewell, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''An excellent, rich and amusing read'' – \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e, Book of the Week\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor centuries much of Europe was in the hands of the very peculiar Habsburg family. An unstable mixture of wizards, obsessives, melancholics, bores, musicians and warriors, they saw off – through luck, guile and sheer mulishness – any number of rivals, until finally packing up in 1918. From their principal lairs along the Danube they ruled most of Central Europe and Germany and interfered everywhere – indeed the history of Europe hardly makes sense without them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDanubia \u003c\/i\u003eplunges the reader into a maelstrom of alchemy, skeletons, jewels, bear-moats, unfortunate marriages and a guinea-pig village. Full of music, piracy, religion and fighting, it is the history of a dynasty, but it is at least as much about the people they ruled, who spoke many different languages, lived in a vast range of landscapes, believed in many rival gods and often showed a marked ingratitude towards their oddball ruler in Vienna.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoining \u003ci\u003eGermania\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLotharingia\u003c\/i\u003e in Simon Winder''s endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, \u003ci\u003eDanubia \u003c\/i\u003eis a hilarious, eccentric and witty saga.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57309857907070,"sku":"NW9781529026160","price":12.47,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781529026160.jpg?v=1778249215","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/danubia","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}