The scholarly neglect of Alexander Lernet-Holenia"s work, despite his prolific authorship and recognized artistic quality, has been the consequence of a too narrow and one-sided interpretation of the author"s themes. With the current reborn interest in post-Soviet Central European regionalism, and the fragmentation of the polyglot states in Central and Eastern Europe, Lernet-Holenia"s writings can be seen to again offer relevant commentaries on the cultural nature of Austria and the successor states to the Habsburg Empire. In this first major examination of Lernet-Holenia"s novels and critical essays in any language, Robert Dassanowsky explores and redefines the author"s unique understanding of a problematic Austrian national identity within a restless Central Europe, a topic revitalized for the twenty-first century.