Frederic Morton

Recreates an opulent and ominous period in Vienna's history, showing ways in which public events affected the hearts and minds of the Viennese people and the great artists and thinkers who lived among them

Vienna, 1888/1889

A Nervous Splendor

Vienna 1913/1914

Thunder at Twilight

Thunder at Twilight is a landmark historical vision, drawing on hitherto untapped sources to illuminate two crucial years in the life of the extraordinary city of Vienna-and in the life of the twentieth century. It was during the carnival of 1913 that a young Stalin arrived in Vienna on a mission that would launch him into the upper echelon of Russian revolutionaries, and it was here that he first collided with Trotsky. It was in Vienna that the failed artist Adolf Hitler kept daubing watercolors and spouting tirades at fellow drifters in a flophouse. Here Archduke Franz Ferdinand had a troubled audience with Emperor Franz Joseph-and soon the bullet that killed the Archduke would set off the Great War that would kill ten million more. With luminous prose that has twice made him a finalist for the National Book Award, Frederic Morton evokes the opulent, elegant, incomparable sunset metropolis-Vienna on the brink of cataclysm.

The Hound

In the past two centuries, the Rothschild family has been at the center of great events in Europe and the world, such as the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and the development of the Suez Canal. In this National Book Award finalist, Frederic Morton brings the family to life, starting with Mayer of Frankfurt, longtime adviser to Germany’s princes, who broke through the barriers of the Jewish ghetto and placed his family on the road to wealth and power, followed by Lord Alfred in London, Baron Philippe in Paris, and many others. “[Morton’s] tale grows fascinating, luxuriating in the social and human details of what happened once the Rothschild tribe had financed England, bailed out the returning French Bourbons, helped Austria intervene in Italy and lent millions to the Holy See itself.” — William Harlan Hale, The New York Times “Hardly a page without sparkle. Morton writes a chromium-plate style... [he] enables the reader to grasp some of the fundamental secrets of the Rothschild success — above all, its endurance.” — New York Herald Tribune Books “Vivid, witty and perceptive.” — Saturday Review

The Rothschilds: A Family Portrait

The Witching Ship

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 Wolf, 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

A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889

A recreation of Vienna on the eve of WWI. By the author of A Nervous splendor and The Rothschilds (both nominated for the National Book Award). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Vienna 1913-1914

American Jewish publicity man plans to exploit aged Prince Schatten at the opening of a West Berlin luxury hotel, but instead meets a beautiful girl with former Nazi connections.

The Schatten Affair

This National Book Award finalist by the author of A Nervous Splendor chronicles the rise of the international banking dynasty. No other family in the past three centuries has been as constantly at the center of European history, amassed as much wealth, or featured so many spectacular personalities, as the Rothschilds. In Frederic Morton's magisterial study, the family is brought vividly to life from its initial rise in 18th century Germany through successive generations down to the 20th. Here you'll meet Mayer, long-time adviser to Germany's princes, who broke through the barriers of Frankfurt’s Jewish ghetto to become the “founding father of international finance”; Lord Alfred, who maintained a private train and played ringmaster at his own private circus; Baron Philippe, whose rarefied vintages bear labels created by artists including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Keith Haring; and Kathleen Nica Rothschild de Koenigswarter, the "jazz baroness," in whose arms Charlie Parker died. The family itself has been at the center of some of the most crucial moments in history: the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the development of the Suez Canal, and the introduction of Jews in the House of Lords. Through it all, the Rothschild name has continued to represent the family ideal, and no author has so nimbly captured their eccentric brilliance as Frederic Morton.

A Family Portrait

The Rothschilds

Berek, a young penniless Jew of eighteen is struggling to make a home of Turk Place, a desolate street that, in 1873 Vienna, was little more than a Gypsy encampment. But Berek believes fiercely in his own power to forge miracles. Taking the caretaker's daughter as his bride, Berek is confident he can thrive on faith. When a mysterious piece of stone comes into his possession, he and his wife believe their prayers have been answered; the stone may be a holy fragment of Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. This relic, no larger than a brick, proves to transfigure the couple's lives. They make Turk Place their home and three generations of Turk Place residents share the legacy of the Brick. For six decades, the family perseveres in the face of tumultuous events -- World War I, the shattering of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Great Depression. But Hitler's "final solution" forces them to make an impossible choice: flee the Nazis or remain and perish.

A Novel

The Forever Street

A Guide to Pseudo-events in America

The Image

One of the most revered essayists and novelists of his generation, Frederic Morton has captured with matchless immediacy the glamour of Vienna before World War I and the storied opulence of the Rothschild family in his bestselling and award-winning works. Now, in his first book in more than fifteen years, he delivers a luminous look at his own unique pursuit of the American dream. Like many Austrian boys in 1936, the author idolizes Fritz Austerlitz, the Austrian American who went to Hollywood and emerged as Fred Astaire. When his family is forced to flee Vienna, Fritz Mandelbaum becomes Fred Morton and immigrates to New York City. Though he does not learn English until he is sixteen years old, Morton nonetheless goes on to succeed as a writer. The author sets out ten scenes from his pilgrim life and his remarkable road to success: from watching a poorly dubbed Astaire in Vienna to delivering apricot tarts as a baker's assistant in New York; from Salt Lake City where as a young English instructor he met Vladimir Nabokov to a Christmas spent with the Rothschilds at Château Mouton. Runaway Waltz is a soulful, beautifully written portrait of one man's extraordinary quest for fulfillment and enduring transformation.

Frederic Morton

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