The Alps: A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond

I'm so enjoying this book! Clever and interesting travelogue, especially relevant since I will be doing a tour of the Alps in the near future. Mr. O'Shea offers history, humor, and anecdotes that I enjoyed.The only improvement I would suggest would be a more detailed map! The one that's included has so little information as to be nearly useless; next edition, have a map with the cities the author is visiting!

Travel book about a solo auto trip through the Alps, with many historical anecdotes and asides. Interesting, funny at times, and well written. Anyone who has traveled in the Alps or is thinking of doing so would, I believe, enjoy this book.

I found this book at the Zurich airport. Checked out the chapters...saw one about Furka Pass. Having recently traversed the Pass, reading his description freaked me out all over again! Bought the book! Wonderful stories with a perfect blend of history & humor give me an even greater appreciation of Swiss culture. If you love Swizerland, you'll enjoy this book! I will be purchasing other titles from this Author😀

The book was an ok read. It was informative from a historical point of view and up to date enough to use as part of a trip planner. It got wordy at times and repitive.

As a person who has not always been but has inexplicably become scared of heights, this great book allows you a wonderful perspective on all the writer sees without the heart stopping anxiety associated with being there yourself. It is very hard not to suffer some sympathetic anxiety pangs but don't worry; they abate soon enough as the author shares his wonderful experiences. always with an eye turned to the quirky and weird among the beautiful. He delivers history, geology, geography, sociology and political lessons without being pedantic.One of my favorite parts of this book was the clever word play, O'Shea delights the reader with, his use of collective terms for varying nationalities of bike riders such as a tulip of Dutch bike riders or a waffle of Belgian bike riders. I found six of these and laughed out loud as I came across them hiding among the other words on a page, quiet as can be. While a little less charmed by his use of "an assault-rifle of American tourists," I have to acknowledge that it is as on target (see what I did there) as the other descriptors. The man can turn a phrase, for sure.

I chose this book because I would love to do the same thing, take a driving trip through the Alps. It was mostly interesting but at times the author got carried away with too much information.

Flashy writing style but I was looking for more history.

The title intrigued me, the text held me for days. So many places, individuals, events, and things took place in and around the Alps that were major and some not even known to the general public. The writing allowed the reader to see beautiful visuals that made it possible to pretend you were right there in the Alps. An overall thrilling read.

My niece has won a place on a Guiders trip from Northern Ireland. She loves the book! It gives a really readable background to how the Alps have impacted events beyond their borders as well as excellent descriptions of these beautiful mountains.

Really interesting book that connected a lot of the region. Highly recommend!

It's a good, fun read for anyone considering a touring holiday in the Alps. This is not an authoritative history book with lots of numbers and footnotes.

Stephen O’Shea amiably meanders through the Alps, turning heads in his sports car and wryly observing on the variety of life, customs and curiosities he comes across, as he ensnares us in an engaging kind of biography of this iconic mountain range.Blending tales of the weird and wonderful with history, geography and literary reference points, he takes us on an enjoyable journey through the centuries. His tales range from Frankenstein to Hitler, mountaineering to yodeling and pelotons to racing cars – with many more subjects covered than can be listed here.All observed from a gently humorous perspective, there is a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy in this book - unless you happen to be Dutch, against whom he takes a dislike for interrupting his parking, viewing, driving, sleeping and thinking.

A good read