Joseph Roth, one of the most significant writers of classical modernism, narrates in his major Austrian novels "The Radetzky March" and "The Capuchin Crypt" the fate and downfall of the Habsburg monarchy through the family history of the Trotta lineage, as well as life during and after World War I and Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany. Unlike in "The Radetzky March," this novel centers on the aimless and day-to-day existence of the family member with the telling name Franz Ferdinand Trotta. He seeks and finds his destiny in the Capuchin Crypt – the symbol of the declining era. Over a span of 25 years, an impressive and melancholic panorama unfolds, along with a subtle psychological profile of an era and a society in decline.