"One of the most beautiful prose works of the century, full of sadness, full of wisdom, full of horror" (Peter Wapnewski) Not only every beginning, but also many an end has its magic. Joseph Roth, literary chief witness of the Danube Monarchy, brings their eschatological magic to light one last time. "Radetzky March", his touching Requiem of Old Austria, is itself imbued with that tactful grace that it traces in an untimely world. A benevolent patriarch watches over his subjects in wise counsel, the Habsburg world order seems everlasting. But behind the imperial splendour and glory there are increasing signs of decay. The sounds of marches and waltzes are mixed with drum rolls and shrill nationalist tones. Franz von Trotta, scion of a family protected by the emperor, realizes that the world he called Imperial and Royal is in ruins.