Flight from Greatness is a collection of six essays that attempt to define and illustrate what it means to be Austrian. By illuminating the lives and careers of Franz Schubert, Ferdinand Raimund, Johann Nestroy, Franz Grillparzer, Adalbert Stiffer, and Johann Strauss, the author makes a case for his theses that Austria is understood neither by Austrians nor the world at large, and that consistent characteristics of Austrianness include failure to measure up to individual potential, an almost conscious avoidance of greatness, and the tendency for a career to break off before it is finished.