These 5 books are highly recommended by Professor Patenaude.

• Cockett, Richard. Vienna: How the City of Ideas Created the Modern World. Yale University Press, 2024. This extraordinary story traces Vienna’s rich intellectual history, whose great thinkers and artists dispersed throughout the world as the rise of fascism took hold in the city they called home, thereby influencing every aspect of western history, science and culture.

• Daviau, Donald. Vienna, A Traveler’s Literary Companion. Whereabouts Press, 2008. Organized by neighborhood, these 15 alluring tales introduce both the city and its writers, including Arthur Schnitzler, Robert Musil, Stefan Zweig and even Franz Kafka, who had a long and complicated association with the city.

• De Waal, Edmund. The Hare with Amber Eyes. Picador USA, 2011. Edmund de Waal unfolds the story of his remarkable family, a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who “burned like a comet” in early 20th-century Paris and Vienna.

• Gay, Peter. Mozart. Penguin Putnam, 2006. This concise, entertaining portrait delves into Mozart’s complex relationship with his father, his daunting role as a child prodigy and his exploration of new musical territory.

• Morton, Frederic. A Nervous Splendor, Vienna 1888-1889. Viking, 1980. A portrait of Vienna at the end of the 19th century, this book focuses on Crown Prince Rudolph, his devastating suicide and the rich texture of gossip and daily life at the Habsburg Court.

• Erickson, Raymond (Editor). Schubert's Vienna. Yale University Press, 1997. A scholarly view of Vienna at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th with essays by a variety of contributors on Viennese politics, social issues, culture, and, of course, music. With 160 well integrated illustrations.

• Kandel, Eric R. The Age of Insight, The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present. Random House, 2012. A neuroscientist documents the work of five leading minds, including Sigmund Freud and Gustave Klimt, in 1900 Vienna, revealing how their critical breakthroughs in science, medicine and art laid the groundwork for present-day discoveries in cognitive science.

• Magris, Claudio. Danube. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008. Mixing history, personalities and literature, Magris traces the course of the Danube from its source in the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Balkans to the Black Sea in this anything but conventional travelogue, first published in 1986.

• Schorske, Carl E. Fin-de-Siecle Vienna: Politics and Culture. Random House, 1981. A landmark study of turn-of-the century Vienna -- one of the key chapters in modern intellectual history. Among its luminaries were Freud, Klimt, Kokoshka and Schoenberg.

• Wheatcroft, Andrew. The Enemy at the Gate, Habsburgs, Ottomans, and the Battle for Europe. Hachette, 2010. Wheatcroft (The Habsburgs) recreates the grand ambition, vainglorious personalities and drama of the Siege of Vienna in 1683 by the Ottoman Turks in this richly detailed history.

• Wheatcroft, Andrew. The Habsburgs, Embodying Empire. Penguin Putnam, 1995. With skillful scholarship and engaging style, Wheatcroft reveals the history of this family of eccentric monarchs.

• Bettelheim, Bruno. Freud in Vienna and other Essays. Alfred Knopf, 1991. From Freud and fin de siecle Vienna, to the Holocaust and studies of child development, the great Bruno Bettelheim artfully mixes real life experience with intellectual reflections. (PAPER, 304 Pp.)

• Fermor, Patrick Leigh. A Time of Gifts. NYRB, 2005. Fermor effortlessly interweaves anecdote, history and culture in this exuberant account of a walk from Holland, up the Rhine and down the Danube, through Germany, Prague and Austria in 1933. Written not in the moment, but 40 years later, the accumulation of time and experience gives the book poignancy. (PAPER, 384 Pp.)

• Zweig, Stefan. The World of Yesterday. Univ Nebraska, 2013. Ostensibly an autobiography, this work by acclaimed Austrian author Stefan Zweig reports on Vienna, Paris, Berlin and London. Surrounded by the leading literary lights of the age, Stefan Zweig draws a vivid and intimate portrait of golden age Europe. 

• Carr, Jonathan. Mahler, A Biography. Overlook Press, 2011. Drawing on letters, diaries and newly translated material, Carr shows the life and work of the composer, including his revolutionary achievements as director of the Vienna Opera.

• DeNora, Tia. Beethoven and the Construction of Genius: Musical Politics in Vienna, 1792-1803. University of California Press, 1997. Both a probing biographical account of Beethoven's life and an insightful sociological study of "artistic genius," this engaging book also examines the musical world of 18th-century Vienna.

• Erickson, Raymond (Editor). Schubert's Vienna. Yale University Press, 1997. A scholarly view of Vienna at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th with essays by a variety of contributors on Viennese politics, social issues, culture, and, of course, music. With 160 well integrated illustrations.

• Greene, Graham. The Third Man and The Fallen Idol. Penguin, 1992. A haunting tale and penetrating portrait of Vienna after World War II, “The Third Man” is the result of Greene’s collaboration with Carol Reed on the classic movie. “The Fallen Idol” is a separate tale of intrigue set in Britain.

• O’Connor, Anne-Marie. The Lady in Gold, The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s Masterpiece. Alfred Knopf, 2015. Washington Post journalist O’Connor recreates the intellectual and artistic milieu of turn-of-century Vienna in this haunting look at the artist Gustav Klimt, his famous portrait of Adele Bloch- Bauer and the story of her niece, Maria Bloch-Bauer, who battled with the Austrian government to recover five Klimt paintings stolen by Hitler. Ronald Lauder bought the Lady in Gold for the Neue Galerie in New York.

• Roth, Joseph, and Joachim Neugroschel (Translator). The Radetzky March. Overlook Press, 2002. Magnificently set against the backdrop of the twilight of the Habsburg Empire, Roth’s family saga takes in the sweep of history and empire in Central Europe. The richly textured novel opens at the battle of Solferino, when young Lieutenant Trotta saves the life of the Emperor.

• Whitford, Frank. Klimt. Thames & Hudson, 1990. This superb volume in the acclaimed “World of Art” series is fully illustrated with 159 photos and drawings along with 29 large, full-color plates of Gustav Klimt's major works: paintings, interior design and graphic art.

• Anderson, Wes (director). The Grand Budapest Hotel. Baker & Taylor Video, 2015. The legendary concierge at a fictional European hotel tells its story, which involves the theft of a priceless Renaissance painting and a lost family fortune. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and Jeff Goldblum. Rated R. 99 minutes.

• Burger, Neil (director). The Illusionist. Baker & Taylor Video, 2014. Starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel and Paul Giamatti, this dazzling film is set in 19th-century Vienna where a doomed romance between a magician and a duchess affects the future of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. PG-13. 110 minutes.

• Cohen, Jem (director). Museum Hours, 2012 When a Vienna museum guard befriends an enigmatic visitor, the grand Kunsthistorisches Art Museum becomes a mysterious crossroads that sparks explorations of their lives, the city, and the ways in which works of art reflect and shape the world. Not rated. 107 minutes.

• Curtis, Simon (director). Woman In Gold. Baker & Taylor Video, 2015. Now in her eighties, a Holocaust survivor struggles to recover a priceless piece of art that was stolen from her family during WWII. Starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. PG-13. 109 minutes.

• Forman, Milos (director). Amadeus. Baker & Taylor Video, 2009. Driven insane by the divine musical gifts of Mozart, jealous composer Antonio Salieri tells the dramatic story of Mozart’s life and character. Starring F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce. Rated R. 160 minutes.

• Linklater, Richard (director). Before Sunrise. Castle Rock, 1995. A young man and a young woman meet on a train in Europe and spend one evening together in Vienna, knowing that it will probably be the last they will see one another. Rated R. 111 minutes.

• Reed, Carol (director). The Third Man. Baker & Taylor Video, 1949. Classic film noir set in postwar Vienna, starring Orson Welles and based on the novel by Graham Greene. Not rated. 93 minutes.

• Ross, Herbert (director). The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Universal Pictures, 1976. Concerned about Sherlock Holmes’ cocaine use, Dr. Watson tricks the detective into travelling to Vienna where Holmes meets Sigmund Freud. Meanwhile, Holmes devotes himself to solving a kidnapping. Rated PG. 113 minutes.

DK Eyewitness Guides. Eyewitness Guide Vienna. DK Travel, 2024. This handy, compact guide features history, culture, color photography and excellent neighborhood maps.