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Messages from a Lost World: Europe on the Brink (Demy Hardback)

Messages from a Lost World: Europe on the Brink (Demy Hardback)

by WillStone (Translator), StefanZweig (Author), JohnGray (Introduction)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2016

    $11.01
Synopsis

'Darkness must fall before we are aware of the majesty of the stars above our heads. It was necessary for this dark hour to fall, perhaps the darkest in history, to make us realize that freedom is as vital to our soul as breathing to our body.' As Europe faced its darkest days, Stefan Zweig was a passionate voice for tolerance, peace and a world without borders. In these moving, ardent essays, speeches and articles, composed before and during the Second World War, one of the twentieth century's greatest writers mounts a defence of European unity against terror and brutality. From the dreamlike 'The Sleepless World', written in 1914, through the poignant 'The Vienna of Yesterday', to the impassioned 'In This Dark Hour', one of his final addresses, given in 1941, Zweig envisages a Europe free of nationalism and pledged to pluralism, culture and brotherhood. These haunting lost messages, all appearing in English for the first time and some newly discovered, distil Zweig's courage, belief and richness of learning to give the essence of a writer; a spiritual will and testament to stand alongside his memoir, The World of Yesterday. Brief and yet intense, they are a tragic reminder of a world lost to the 'bloody vortex of history', but also a powerful statement of one man's belief in the creative imagination and the potential of humanity, with a resounding relevance today. Translated by Will Stone, with an introduction by philosopher and historian of ideas John Gray.

$11.01

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 260
 Publisher: Pushkin Press
Published: 28 Jan 2016
ISBN 10: 1782271554
ISBN 13: 9781782271550

Media Reviews
A necessary addition to any Zweig library. Independent One of liberalism's greatest defenders New Republic Zweig's impassioned pursuit of personal freedom seems more relevant than ever Newsweek At a time of monetary crisis and political disorder, of mounting border controls and barbed-wire fences... Zweig's celebration of the brotherhood of peoples reminds us that there is another way The Nation One major bonus of the volume is the introduction by Will Stone, translator of the lost messages . Not only is his analysis of the 10 newly translated works masterly, but his translation is forceful and muscular European Literature Network The earliest pieces in Messages From a Lost World contain Zweig's musings on the spiritual impact of the war, written while it was still in progress and with no end in sight. They are the thoughts of a man trying to find his way out of what must have seemed a completely reasonable state of despair... in pieces from the 1920s and early '30s, Zweig takes it as a moral imperative to champion the cause of peace by reminding his readers and listeners that humanity could no longer afford the sort of belligerent nationalism that had led them into the Great War Inside Higher Ed Pushkin Press leads the Zweig revival... while it is disheartening to read these pieces today, knowing how Zweig's life ended, it is inspiring to see that they have been published. However defeated Zweig might appear to contemporary readers, however aloof or naive, his idea of the European soul is still worth defending... a source of insight into our troubled times The Northwest Review of Books Messages from a Lost World is ably translated... by Will Stone, making it an extraordinary and highly recommended addition to community and academic library collections. Messages from a Lost World is a lasting legacy for a new generation of readers from this memorable philosophy and dedicated historian Midwest Book Review If the world could be changed by elegantly expressed humanist sentiments, this passage, from a speech delivered in 1932, might have altered the course of history Education News
Author Bio
Stefan Zweig was one of the most popular and widely translated writers of the early twentieth century. Born into an Austrian-Jewish family in 1881, he became a leading figure in Vienna's cosmopolitan cultural world and was famed for his gripping novellas and vivid psychological biographies. In 1934, following the Nazis' rise to power, Zweig fled Austria, first for England, where he wrote his famous novel Beware of Pity, then the United States and finally Brazil. It was here that he completed his acclaimed autobiography The World of Yesterday, a lament for the golden age of a Europe destroyed by two world wars. The articles and speeches in Messages from a Lost World were written as Zweig, a pacifist and internationalist, witnessed this destruction and warned of the threat to his beloved Europe. On 23 February 1942, Zweig and his second wife Lotte were found dead, following an apparent double suicide.