by Martyn Rady
(Allen Lane, £30)
WHEN I was at school longer ago than I care to remember the history I learned was essentially one of kings and queens, followed by British prime ministers and Acts of Parliament.
It was not just a top-down history, it was a top history, full stop.
The underlings, working people who made real history, were hardly mentioned.
I thought that view of history had been discarded with the cane and blackboards, but on reading The Habsburgs by Martyn Rady, professor of central European history at University College, London, I find that I am wrong.
The Habsburgs were the first rulers whose power encompassed the world.