In this volume, the authors of many acclaimed books on style, including the Essence of Style books turn their attentions to the lands east of the Danube, and create Mittel Europa - an imaginary country with a gloriously real tradition of architecture and design. This is the heart of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its major cities are Vienna, Prague and Budapest - undoubtedly among the world's most beautiful. We travel with the authors to these quintessential Old World cities and the magnificent countryside to discover in the architecture, interiors and folk arts of the region a thriving design tradition that the 20th century once threatened to extinguish, but that now promises to enrich the decorative arts throughout the World.