Live your needs!

We are taught to set ourselves targets. We train our body and function in accordance with social protocols. We try to be successful and a perfect partner in matters of the heart. But this balancing act is often not achieved. The body becomes tired and threatens to buckle under the stress, or we experience inner conflict. But who is in the right: body, heart or mind? How do I become me, and who am I? Our thoughts appear to be free, but in truth are tied to our body. Georg Fraberger, himself severely physically disabled from birth, illustrates how we can lead a balanced life through the harmonious connection of body, heart and mind.

The early 20th century’s most important political turning point from an Austrian perspective.

From an Austrian point of view, what relevance do the two Russian revolutions have? Many Austrian soldiers, serving under the Habsburg Monarchy’s army, were held prisoner in Russia following the First World War. What did they experience and what were their thoughts on the historic upheaval that not only forever changed Russia, but the entire world? What hopes and fears awaited them at home? How did Austrians comment on the development of a new world order, which would ultimately divide the world into two camps? Verena Moritz presents and analyzes personal diaries, letters, newspaper articles and further as of now unpublished material. She successfully paints a vivid portrait of an era marked by major historical changes that have had an effect to this day.

“Leben auf Sicht” (Living with the future in mind), our new book series on innovative sustainability solutions edited by Thomas Weber

When Barbara Nothegger became a mother in 2013, she and her family took the plunge and moved to a communal living project in Vienna. About 100 people got together and built an alternative living space with flexible apartments, communal gardens, open space for kids, and an ecological lifestyle. The community’s members wanted to be there for each other, just like people were in traditional villages. But how can community work in a world marked by individualism? Are communal living projects an answer to pressing issues of modern life such as isolation, rising rents, and increasingly depleted resources? Barbara Nothegger takes a look at similar living projects in Germany and Switzerland and demonstrates how good neighborhood ties create a better quality of life. She humorously portrays her own path to happiness in the communal living project.

A biography based on the personal notes of Emperor Franz Joseph's mother "Sophie impressed everyone with her tall, noble figure and fresh spirit" Prince Metternich

Archduchess Sophie is considered one of the most fascinating figures of the imperial court in Vienna. As the mother of emperor Franz Joseph she played an influential role in the imperial family. Despite her political interests, she was smart enough to stay in the background. Popular portrayals of Sophie as "Sisi's evil mother-in-law" or "the secret empress" are by no means confirmed in her personal notes. Ingrid Haslinger spent many years thoroughly researching archives and examining the complete diaries and letters written by Sophie. The result is a wholly new, highly personal look at a woman so relevant for Austrian history and an intimate portrait of a fascinating life.

Depression, dementia and burnout are the leading causes of illness in our times. A tour guide to our mental state.

What is good for our mental wellbeing, from our baby years to old age? We live in times where mental illness and confusion are on the rise, our society is rapidly changing, and people are more and more stressed and overwhelmed. Only a few years ago, philosophers described this phenomenon as "a society of fatigue". Increasingly this fatigue seems to expand into fear and helplessness. The authors take readers on a journey through the wondrous world of our psyche. They answer questions that we have all encountered when our minds enter a state of emergency and they ask further questions in a world that's becoming crazier each day.

We can't expect evolution to ensure the survival of humankind. If we want to survive, we have to take matters into our own hands.

70, 000 years ago, humans were first able to form a thought about something that didn't exist. What sounds simple actually marks the birth of human culture and poses the outset for a range of inventions that have formed human nature and haven't necessarily changed us for the better. We thought up myths and religions and invented languages, money and racism. Now humankind is about to complete its greatest invention: itself. Science allows us to continue our own evolution. Renée Schroeder looks back at the short period of humankind's existence, takes a detour into genetics and proclaims a new age of enlightenment.

Europe's most recent crises are causing turmoil in modern politics. There used to be left and right, but now things work differently. The East is the future of the West. [Jan Werner Müller, political scientist]

25 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Europe's democracies are in a deep crisis. Old political camps are fading: the left is trading revolution for nationalism; the right is borrowing a useful enemy – the banks – from the left. It causes Boris Schumatsky great dismay to see the growing success of Russia's autocrats. Whether right, left or middle: Ruling is fun, freedom is tough. During the 1990s, a wave of postmodernism seemed to promise everlasting peace. Now the ease of those days, and with it an inability to tell apart truth and lies, has turned into a populist monster. Boris Schumatsky delivers an astute analysis of current political trends and future prospects.

The sequel to Weber's bestseller "A Good Day has 100 Points" The less points a product has, the better for our carbon footprint and our wellbeing. The less we indulge in the excess around us, the better for us and our planet. Why you should reader Weber: Unlike the average environmentalist, he does not plead for a governmental regulation of our carbon footprint. Instead, he calls for more individual initiative in the quest for more sustainability. And with this book, he offers us the tools. [NZZ]

How can we improve our carbon footprint while keeping our lifestyle? How can we stay aware and treat the environment with care? Thomas Weber has the answers and provides ideas that anyone can follow. Initiatives like "rent a chicken", "chop some thujas" and "free your slaves" are concepts that are unusual, but easy to translate into everyday life. After the great success of "A Good Day has 100 Points", this sequel offers new ideas for a more sustainable lifestyle. Thomas Weber's suggestions are creative, fresh, and appealing.

1966, the year the world said farewell to the past and hello to the future. The fact that Schäfer is an author who not only writes literature, but also writes about pop music and literature, is pure luck for this genre. [Franz Dobler, taz]

The opening of the Psychedelic Shop on Haight & Ashbury on January 3, 1966 is not only the beginning of an era in pop culture. Ken Kasey and the Merry Pranksters are touring through the US with their public LSD Happenings. Even the Beatles are on acid and they're more famous than Jesus. And more controversial, too. In London's UFO club, Pink Floyd begin their ascent to the stars, just like Captain Kirk, Spock, and Bones. The cold war moves to outer space and students start moving to the streets. And a white whale is sighted in the Rhine… Frank Schäfer paints a colorful collage of the year when postwar blandness was replaced by psychedelic pink paisley.

A remarkably modern author and her sophisticated work Rediscovering Ebner-Eschenbach is more than worth it, in both a feminist and literary sense… [Elfriede Hammerl, Profil]

Austria's most famous female author of the 19th century was underestimated as a "poet of kindness & grace", yet she was so much more: Poetic realist, playwright, aphorist, proponent of women's rights, fighter of anti-Semitism, officer's wife, trained watchmaker, animal friend, and avid horseback rider. In the first German biography since 1920, Daniela Strigl traces Ebner-Eschenbachs life from her birth in Zdislavice castle to her late fame as an author. The multi-faceted author was always torn between her aristocratic background and her socialist opinions, between ethics and irony, ambition and humility, social obligations and her passion for writing. Maria von Ebner-Eschenbach unwaveringly held on to her goals, despite resistance from her family and bad reviews from theater critics. "If there is a belief that can move mountains, then it is the belief in one's own strength."