A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889

On January 30, 1889, during the Viennese Carnival, Emperor Franz Josef’s son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf fired a revolver at his teenaged mistress and then at himself at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods. In this National Book Award finalist, Frederic Morton tells the story of the Prince and his city, where, in the span of ten months, “the Western dream started to go wrong.” In 1888-89 Vienna, other young men like Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Theodor Herzl, Gustav Klimt, and Arthur Schnitzler were as frustrated as the Crown Prince, but for other reasons. Morton interweaves their fates with that of the Prince and the entire city, until Rudolf’s body is lowered into its permanent sarcophagus and a son named Adolf is born to Frau Klara Hitler.


“Riveting” — John Leonard, The New York Times


“As lush, beguiling, and charming as an emperor’s waltz” — Publishers Weekly


“[A] spirited tale of Viennese life... by his skillful use of rich but forgotten daily details [Morton] construct[s] a fascinating account of ten months in the lives of Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms, Sigmund Freud, Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo Wolff, and others.” — Kirkus Reviews


“On every page, great names and odd moments glitter... a remarkable and unusual slice of history.” — Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times


“1888/1889 is my favorite year in the life of ‘the Imperial City,’ and Frederic Morton’s A Nervous Splendor is my favorite book about Vienna.” — John Irving, author of The World According to Garp