The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond

by Stephen O'Shea

Overview

“An entertaining, turbocharged race among the high mountain passes of six alpine countries.” —Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book Review

For centuries the Alps have been witness to the march of armies, the flow of pilgrims and Crusaders, the feats of mountaineers, and the dreams of engineers. In The Alps, Stephen O’Shea ("a graceful and passionate writer"—Washington Post) takes readers up and down these majestic mountains. Journeying through their 500-mile arc across France, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia, he explores the reality behind historic events and reveals how the Alps have profoundly influenced culture and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393355697
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	648,215
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Stephen O’Shea is the author of several books about European history, including the acclaimed Back to the Front and Sea of Faith. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

A Note on Measurement xv

Part 1 Lake Geneva to the Gotthard Pass 1

Part 2 Heidiland to Grindelwald 143

Part 3 Innsbruck to Trieste 177

Acknowledgments 295

Index 299

Editorial Reviews

"[A] sardonic, science-rich travelogue."

Nature

"O’Shea’s quirky travelogue delivers an avalanche of entertaining facts and history."

NPR - Heller McAlpin

"Fascinating, funny, and hugely informative… The Alps delivers one stunner after the other, accompanied by the kind of witty, informative banter that enhances our journey."

Providence Journal - Tony Lewis

"A delight.… O’Shea is an engaging writer."

Minneapolis StarTribune - Kim Ode

"I would follow Stephen O’Shea anywhere he travels, and this book is a real adventure, both geographically and intellectually—an eloquent and engaging exploration."

Ross King

"Enthralling…breezy and informative."

BBC - Jane Ciabattari

"The combination of a contemporary first-person travelogue… and a time-tripping riffle through Alpine history’s greatest hits provides an ideal mix."

Passport

"[A] sardonic, science-rich travelogue."

Nature Lib

…[an] entertaining, turbocharged race among the high mountain passes of six alpine countries…

The New York Times Book Review - Liesl Schillinger

01/02/2017
In the summer of 2014, popular historian O’Shea (The Friar of Carcassonne) traversed six of Europe’s seven alpine countries (France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia; he missed Liechtenstein), aiming to share stories grounded in the cleavages of human geography that have long marked the region. The travelogue is chock-full of colorful facts, such as that “going to Switzerland” is “European shorthand for seeking assisted suicide” and that a Chinese mining magnate created a “clone” of the Austrian village of Hallstatt in China, which led to an explosion of Chinese tourism in the original town. O’Shea is at his best when describing the architectural marvels of the places he visits, its literary trivia (for example, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1816 in a French hamlet near Mont Blanc during a period of inclement weather she endured with her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron), and such folkways as yodeling. Unfortunately, O’Shea’s approach to elucidating regional history can be rather too cursory, and his prose style aspires to the scale and grandeur of the Alps without reaching such heights. O’Shea comes across as a charming, ever-curious, and knowledgeable raconteur, but the book never seems sure of its purpose and suffers as a result. Maps. (Mar.)This review has been corrected to remove an extraneous word.

Publishers Weekly

"[O’Shea] is an amiable guide to the riches of this vast mountain range—culinary, linguistic, literary, cultural and geologic."

Newsday - Matthew Price

"An entertaining, turbocharged race among the high mountain passes of six alpine countries."

Liesl Schillinger

"Splendid. . . . A great pleasure to read."

Times Literary Supplement - Jonathan Steinberg

12/01/2016
Traveling through the Alps in a sporty new Renault Megane, O'Shea (The Friar of Carcassonne) sets off on a 21st-century version of the European Grand Tour. But this journey isn't about the car, it's about how the geography of the Alps influences civilization and culture, past and present. Admittedly not fond of heights, O'Shea white-knuckles the steering wheel and navigates the winding roads and hairpin turns with trepidation, pushing onward past the Dutch tourists in their campers and the assorted motorcycle groups. The variety of languages and people interest him, as he weaves the historical events and the literature that have touched on the Alps. Locals delight in pointing out the inaccuracies in the 1965 film The Sound of Music, and Heidi has been transformed into a huge-eyed anime figure, to appeal to the foreign souvenir buyers. Diverse figures such as Hannibal, James Bond, and Adolph Hitler have all left their marks on these mountains. With his playful approach to language and a willingness to put himself in uncomfortable situations, the author travels the sometimes treacherous roads with delight. VERDICT This clever meeting of history, literature, and travelog is a treat for readers of Bill Bryson and Tony Horwitz.—Susan Belsky, Oshkosh P.L., WI

Library Journal

2016-11-02
A tour through the Alps reveals history, geology, anthropology, and local customs.As he frequently remarks, journalist and travel writer O'Shea (The Friar of Carcassonne: Revolt Against the Inquisition in the Last Days of the Cathars, 2011, etc.) is afraid of heights. Nevertheless, he decided to brave breathtakingly steep inclines and hairpin turns to investigate the dramatic political and cultural history of the French, German, Austrian, and Italian Alps. Traveling west to east, O'Shea drove a "souped-up" Renault Mégane Sport, a "muscle car" distinctive enough to attract attention in Geneva, where he began his journey. The French Alps, he notes, gave birth to Romanticism: Rousseau ("Switzerland's most famous son") set his sensational novel about Abelard and Heloise along the shores of Lake Geneva, and Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein there. Besides abundant literary references throughout his ebullient narrative, the author traces the mountains' role in war and conquest: Hannibal, Napoleon, and Hitler all make appearances. In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, he visited a museum documenting the Nazi-dominated Winter Olympics of 1936. He also chronicles his visit to Heidiland, a cheesy theme park cashing in on the popularity of Joanna Spyri's children's book; discovers that the famed Saint Bernard rescue dogs did not carry kegs of brandy; relates famous mountaineers' "heart-stopping tales of danger courted and overcome"; and offers chilling descriptions of the "arduous and sinuous" routes he traversed. After being shrouded by fog, he saw "a horrific vista of yawning emptiness"; sheer cliffs and looming mountains "stretch to the heavens, gray rock and white snow in a stirring melodrama of nature." He stopped in quaint villages, where he ate local specialties, all recounted in detail. O'Shea occasionally punctuates his otherwise brisk narrative with jarring imagery: he sees the Matterhorn "sheathed in clouds, like a burlesque dancer teasing the tourists staring up at it"; and he insists on describing bikers in reference to national cuisine: "a bratwurst of German bikers," "a soufflé" of French. This spirited jaunt into the peaks of Europe may inspire readers to pack their bags.

Kirkus Reviews