First published in 1998. This is the only up to date English language work which seeks to assess the whole of the post war Austrian experience in the light of the latest research, using a multi-disciplinary approach by historians, political scientists, economists, international relations specialists and literary historians. It is addressed not only to specialists in Austrian affairs, but also to studies and scholars concerned with the evaluation of small democracies, their place in an integrated continent and the shape of post-Communist Central Europe.

The formative first few decades of the Second Republic are reassessed in four contributions: analysis of the key actors and events involved in the genesis of post war state; of the activities of Karl Renner's first coalition government; of how tensions regarding Austrian identity were played out in post-war literature and of the competing domestic and superpower perceptions of Austria's fledging neutrality.