The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire: 1815-1918  by Alan Sked and published by Longman Publishing, London and New York, 1989.

[This book details the "big picture" of what was going on in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire side. Although I have not found a book that truly addresses the issues that affected the peasant class, this is one of the most useful that I have found.]

The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809 -1918: A History of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary by A.J.P. Taylor and published by the University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London; 1948, and in paperback 1967.

[This book details the "big picture" of what was going on in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire side. Although I have not found a book that truly addresses the issues that affected the peasant class, this is one of the most useful that I have found.]

From Warsaw to Sofia: A History of Eastern Europe written by Henry Bogdan, edited by Istvan Fehervary, and published by Pro Libertate Publishing Co., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989. (Originally published in France as De Varsovie a Sofie: Histoire des Pays de l'Est in 1982)

[Although this book was written (and updated) prior to the fall of Iron Curtain, the earlier history of the area is very informative. This extensive book is over 400 pages long.]

The Early Slavs by P.M. Barford and published by Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, in 2001.

[According to the dustcover, this book "is a remarkably comprehensive and accessible synthesis of the most recent archeological discoveries, linguistic research, and literary-historical evidence about the origins of the Slavs. Much of this evidence, gleaned in the wake of recent political changes in Eastern Europe, has been unavailable in English.]

Borders of Language and Identity In Teschen Silesia by Kevin Hannan and published by Peter Lang Publishing, 1997.

[Dr. Kevin Hannan is a Texan of Moravian-Silesian descent now living and teaching in Poland. Although the title of the book indicates that it pertains to Poland, it in truth pertains to the people of the highlands of Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. One of the main premises of the book is that the modern political boundaries are not based on ethnological communities. If your ancestors were Slavic and from the highlands, this book is invaluable. It is also a sound introduction to the world of the Valachs.]

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