Austria’s mountains are more than spectacular scenery. They tell of vanished seas, moving glaciers, ancient crossings, feats of engineering, and people who worked, explored and rescued others in the high country.

In 50 self-contained stories, this richly illustrated work of narrative non-fiction travels across the Austrian Alps. It explains why shells occur on summits, how salt shaped Hallstatt, why the Semmering Railway became an engineering landmark, and how ibex and bearded vultures returned. Original graphics make geological, historical and ecological relationships easy to understand.

This is not a hiking guide or a collection of sporting summits. It invites readers to look more closely—on a train, beside a lake, in a museum, along a valley path or from home. Sources, image licences and time-sensitive information are documented transparently.

For readers who love Austria, mountains, nature and history, and want to discover the stories behind the view.