A scholarly cultural and political history of the festival and its meaning. The author, a professor of history at Cornell, traces the festival from its origins in the wake of WWI and the fall of the Habsburgs, to the Nazis' rise to power in Austria, to the 1999 speech at Salzburg by Austrian President Thomas Klestil calling for a return to traditionalist ideals. This revealing, intriguing book is in-depth and analytical, not the usual reading for travelers, but well worth the effort.  (AST55, $22.95)