Apostles of the Alps : mountaineering and nation building in Germany and Austria, 1860-1939 / Tait Keller.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-276) and index.

Introduction: disenchanted mountains -- Civilizing the crags: urban adventurers modernize the mountains -- Peaks and progress: alpine reveries, bourgeois dreams, and national fantasies -- Young people and old mountains: commercialism and conservationism tangle in the Alps -- The high Alps in the Great War: soldiers and summits on the alpine front -- Forbidden heights: lost mountains and the violence of alpine anti-Semitism -- Mechanical mountains: movies and motors remake the Alps -- Fascist landscapes: nature lovers and Nazi desperadoes on the alpine frontier -- Conclusion: the retreat of nations.

"Though the Alps may appear to be a peaceful place, the famed mountains once provided the backdrop for a political, environmental, and cultural battle as Germany and Austria struggled to modernize. Tait Keller examines the mountains' threefold role in transforming the two countries, as people sought respite in the mountains, transformed and shaped them according to their needs, and over time began to view them as national symbols and icons of individualism"-- Provided by publisher.

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