Shorter notices
Clash of Generations: A Hapsburg Family Drarruz of the 19th Century Lavender Cassels (John Murray £4).
Habsburg scandals have provided spicy topics for a multitude of trivial books. However, Lavender Cassel's excellent study of the family quarrels in Franz Joseph's reign is refreshingly different on its approach. She analyses the divergent views of the dynasty's social and political functions, contrasting those of the rebellious younger generation, Crown Prince Rudolf and Archduke Johann Salvator, with those of Franz Joseph and his austere cousin Albrecht. The combination of a well-rounded narrative and a leaven of fresh archival material makes this the best picture available in English of the crucial stage in Habsburg politics before Rudolf's suicide at Mayerling. The only blemish is an uninspired collection of illustrations. . A.W.
Essays on Freedom of Action edited by Ted Honderich (Routledge £3).
These essays are nine attempts, by distinguished philosophers, to give an account of human action and its limitations, or to examine beliefs held on the subject by other philosophers. All the essays are of a very high standard. Free will versus Determinism is one central topic, and here the best contributors are David Pears, who offers a way of explaining actions without committing oneself to "psychological determinism;" and Tony Kenny, who seeks, in a highly ingenious piece, to show that determinism and freedom may be compatible. N.S.R.H.
Previous page
