A lively description of Simon Winder’s zestful style which demonstrates that prose needn’t be plodding just because it’s about a serious subject.  His writing and personal asides breathe life into a sweeping history of the Hapsburgs, as it did with even greater verve in his history of Germany.  See our loving review of the latter, packed with witty examples of slang-dotted prose. 

In pages of cheerful, slang-dotted prose…

Source: Independent, review of Simon Winder, Danubia: A personal history of Habsburg Europe (London: Picador, 2013)