Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture
A landmark book from one of the truly original scholars of our time: a magnificent revelation of turn-of-the-century Vienna where out of a crisis of political and social disintegration so much of modern art and thought was born."Not only is it a splendid exploration of several aspects of early...
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A landmark book from one of the truly original scholars of our time: a magnificent revelation of turn-of-the-century Vienna where out of a crisis of political and social disintegration so much of modern art and thought was born."Not only is it a splendid exploration of several aspects of early modernism in their political context; it is an indicator of how the discipline of intellectual history is currently practiced by its most able and ambitious craftsmen. It is also a moving vindication of historical study itself, in the face of modernism's defiant suggestion that history is obsolete."-- David A. Hollinger, History Book Club Review"Each of [the seven separate studies] can be read separately....Yet they are so artfully designed and integrated that one who reads them in order is impressed by the book's wholeness and the momentum of its argument."-- Gordon A. Craig, The New Republic"A profound work...on one of the most important chapters of modern intellectual history" -- H.R. Trevor-Roper, front page, The New York Times Book Review"Invaluable to the social and political historian...as well as to those more concerned with the arts" -- John Willett, The New York Review of Books"A work of original synthesis and scholarship. Engrossing."-- Newsweek
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780394744780 (0394744780)
Publish date: February 1st 1981
Publisher: Vintage
Pages no: 378
Edition language: English
Category:
Non Fiction,
History,
Academic,
School,
Cultural,
Art,
Culture,
Politics,
Philosophy,
European History,
Art History,
Germany
I found this book quite off-putting, and though the author is enormously learned, I feel the book is somewhat overrated. I ended up skimming vast tracts of it (hence the category: i-get-the-picture instead of 'read')... and this, after several failed attempts even at starting it.Part of the problem...
This reads more like a collection of topical essays than a book -- because, in fact, it was precisely that. The chapters were written as individual studies, not all at the same time, and later compiled into this book. As a result it is not always intellectually smooth, but many of the chapters are b...