Vienna A Traveller’s Companion

Vienna through the eyes of those who lived and loved it across three centuries. This 1988 Constable London hardcover represents a distinctive entry in the "Traveller's Companion" series - not a guidebook but an anthology of primary sources selected and introduced by John Lehmann and Richard Bassett. Lehmann, the legendary publisher and Bloomsbury associate, paired with historian Richard Bassett to curate extracts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and novels that illuminate Vienna's spirit.

Readers encounter Mozart's irreverent correspondence, Prince Metternich's political observations, Stefan Zweig's nostalgic recollections of pre-war cafe culture, and accounts of the city's darker moments under Nazi occupation and Soviet siege. The compilation moves chronologically from imperial grandeur through collapse and reinvention, letting Vienna's own voices narrate its transformation. For travelers preparing for Vienna or armchair wanderers exploring the city's soul, this anthology succeeds where conventional histories fail - it preserves the texture of lived experience, the small details that make a place feel real across the gulf of time.