The Radetzky March

Set during the doomed splendour of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, The Radetzky March tells the story of the celebrated Trotta family, tracing their rise and fall over three generations. Theirs is a sweeping history of heroism and duty, desire and compromise, tragedy and heartbreak, a story that lasts until the darkening eve of WWI, when all is set to fall apart. A rich and luminous masterpiece, moving, compassionate, witty and dramatic, The Radetzky March is one of the great reading pleasures of 20th-century literature. It is especially powerful in this translation by Michael Hofmann.

'For sheer, epic sweep, I love reading The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth, set in imperial Vienna. I can't recommend it highly enough' Jeremy Paxman

'Timeless... I re-read this book every two or three years, captivated anew by its low-key melancholia and its wry take on the human predicament' William Boyd, Mail on Sunday