The Austrians: A Thousand-Year Odyssey (Gordon Brook-Shepard, 2002)

This was very interesting; I had never read much about Austria. Presented as a buffer zone to the east (ost reich) of the French/German kingdoms of the middle ages; evolved through Hapsburg days; lack of national identity as this developed elsewhere. Many desired to link with Germany; quite a bit of support for the Anschluss (notwithstanding Sound of Music patriotism story). Only seven million people after being cut down to size after WW I. Neutrality adopted as a way to get the Soviets to leave. Then joined EU, started to deal with Nazi cooperation etc.