THE AUSTRIAN ODYSSEY

A political interpretation of Austria- from the ""Empire's pistol-point divorce from Bismarck's Germany"" in 1866 to the restoration of the Second Republic last year assesses her long history of indecision and compromise along with her congenial ""natural passivity"" which frames such a large question- not only for her survival but that of the western world. So that, the evaluation of the failure of the old Austrian Empire (""international too early and national too late""); of the first Republic and the movement toward Anschluss with Germany- all through the years a potent factor; the submerged years under Hitler and after which still generated a dedicated resistance movement at many levels, all fill in the background to the present when freedom has brought a ""sterner challenge than subjugation""- the test of responsibility, one which Austria has failed whether as an Imperial or Republican people. It is her pivotal position today, as the chief non-Communist unifying force in a divided central Europe, which gives Austria her vital importance- politically and ideologically, and this study its value for all concerned with the precarious world situation today. Shepherd, who has spent ten years in Austria as a soldier and a journalist, writes with an informed knowledge of her past and a cogent awareness of her future.