1932Mitteleuropa
The Radetzky March
Joseph Roth · 1894–1939 · Austria (Galicia)
Originally Radetzkymarsch (German)
Why it matters
Three generations of the Trotta family rise and fall with the Habsburg empire, to the beat of Strauss's march. The great elegy for Mitteleuropa: an empire's dissolution measured in one loyal family's decline.
At a glance
family sagahistorical fictiontragedy
Difficulty 5/10medium pace352 pagesElegant but unhurried multigenerational realism with a large cast of officers and officials.
Deep dive
The march plays at every Sunday concert in the book, getting hollower each time — Roth's clock for measuring exactly how far an empire's self-image has drifted from what's actually left standing.
