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Messages from a Lost World

Europe on the Brink

Author Stefan Zweig
Foreword by John Gray
Translated by Will Stone
Ebook (EPUB)
Steerforth Press | Pushkin Press
On sale Sep 27, 2016 | 224 Pages | 9781782271888
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Stefan Zweig was a leading talisman of a united Europe of unfettered movement, of pro-active cultural exchange, humane decency and tolerance, all polar opposites of the Nationalist regimes he loathed, and which came to power in the 1930s. In these poignant essays and addresses, forged in the last years or even months of his life, he shows his profound concern for and dedication to the survival of Europe's spiritual integrity.


These essays form the natural accompaniment to Zweig's renowned memoir The World of Yesterday, registering the same themes and evoking the same nostalgia for a world brutally consigned to history. They can be seen as a vital addendum to that major work or as a prefiguration. But perhaps even more so than the prose of the memoir, these essays, few in number but rich in content, reveal the essence of Zweig's thought.
"Messages From a Lost World, a collection of Zweig’s nonfiction work . . . 10 essays cover the years 1914 to 1941, and they’re linked by themes as relevant now as they were in Zweig’s own day: the divisions between open and closed borders, between nationalism and internationalism, barbarism 
and civilization, tolerance and prejudice, ego and amity, intelligence and ignorance, war and peace. Together, they amount to a manifesto of fraternity in an age of catastrophe. . . . Zweig’s transnational visions in Messages are a product of his displacement, and a sharp reminder to citizens about the agony of being stateless in the present age of the refugee. . . Zweig’s message of fraternity is welcome right now. His dream of a united and more humane Europe has been realized to a degree… under the aegis of the European Union. But even this partially realized version is now under serious threat.   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 of liberalism's greatest defenders." — New Republic

"Zweig's impassioned pursuit of personal freedom seems more relevant than ever." — Newsweek

"In essays penned before and in the midst of both world wars, now newly collected in Messages From a Lost World: Europe on the Brink, Zweig waxed eloquently, if somewhat naïvely, on the 'perennial yearning' for a unified, co-existing world." —Los Angeles Review of Books

"These essays, few in number but rich in content, reveal the essence of Zweig's thought... Messages from a Lost World is ably translated from German into English for an American readership 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

"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: in the past ten years it has published thirty of his books, the latest of which is Messages from a Lost World, a collection of essays and speeches translated by Will Stone. Ranging from 1914 to 1941, they survey the conflict in Europe between civilization and barbarism. . . 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 naïve, his idea of the European soul is still worth defending." — Northwest Review of Books

"Zweig’s works are filled with a profound appreciation not only for his native Austria, but for Italy and France, and for their shared contributions to what he labeled the “magnificent common edifice” of European culture. Zweig’s essays, including several translated into English for the first time in Messages from a Lost World, amount to songs of progress, bursting as they are with pride and fraternity." — Rain Taxi Review of Books

"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." — Education News

"Will delight Zweig superfans... rings with the delicate wit of his prescient criticisms." — The Morning Star

"Never has a book seemed more timely, more eloquent and persuasive, than this small collection of essays by Austrian novelist and man of letters, Stefan Zweig." — On Magazine
Stefan Zweig was born in 1881 in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Between the wars, Zweig was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman, Amok and Fear.In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he left Austria, and lived in London, Bath and New York—a period during which he produced his most celebrated works: his only novel,Beware of Pity, and his memoir, The World of Yesterday. He eventually settled in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press. View titles by Stefan Zweig
Contents

Foreword by John Gray 9
Translator’s Introduction 15

The Sleepless World—1914 39
The Tower of Babel—1916 51
History as Poetess—1931 61
European Thought in Its Historical Development—1932 85
The Unification of Europe—1934 113
1914 and Today—1936 125
The Secret of Artistic Creation—1938 135
The Historiography of Tomorrow—1939 159
The Vienna of Yesterday—1940 183
In This Dark Hour—1941 207

Details of First Publication 213

About

Stefan Zweig was a leading talisman of a united Europe of unfettered movement, of pro-active cultural exchange, humane decency and tolerance, all polar opposites of the Nationalist regimes he loathed, and which came to power in the 1930s. In these poignant essays and addresses, forged in the last years or even months of his life, he shows his profound concern for and dedication to the survival of Europe's spiritual integrity.


These essays form the natural accompaniment to Zweig's renowned memoir The World of Yesterday, registering the same themes and evoking the same nostalgia for a world brutally consigned to history. They can be seen as a vital addendum to that major work or as a prefiguration. But perhaps even more so than the prose of the memoir, these essays, few in number but rich in content, reveal the essence of Zweig's thought.

Reviews

"Messages From a Lost World, a collection of Zweig’s nonfiction work . . . 10 essays cover the years 1914 to 1941, and they’re linked by themes as relevant now as they were in Zweig’s own day: the divisions between open and closed borders, between nationalism and internationalism, barbarism 
and civilization, tolerance and prejudice, ego and amity, intelligence and ignorance, war and peace. Together, they amount to a manifesto of fraternity in an age of catastrophe. . . . Zweig’s transnational visions in Messages are a product of his displacement, and a sharp reminder to citizens about the agony of being stateless in the present age of the refugee. . . Zweig’s message of fraternity is welcome right now. His dream of a united and more humane Europe has been realized to a degree… under the aegis of the European Union. But even this partially realized version is now under serious threat.   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 of liberalism's greatest defenders." — New Republic

"Zweig's impassioned pursuit of personal freedom seems more relevant than ever." — Newsweek

"In essays penned before and in the midst of both world wars, now newly collected in Messages From a Lost World: Europe on the Brink, Zweig waxed eloquently, if somewhat naïvely, on the 'perennial yearning' for a unified, co-existing world." —Los Angeles Review of Books

"These essays, few in number but rich in content, reveal the essence of Zweig's thought... Messages from a Lost World is ably translated from German into English for an American readership 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

"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: in the past ten years it has published thirty of his books, the latest of which is Messages from a Lost World, a collection of essays and speeches translated by Will Stone. Ranging from 1914 to 1941, they survey the conflict in Europe between civilization and barbarism. . . 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 naïve, his idea of the European soul is still worth defending." — Northwest Review of Books

"Zweig’s works are filled with a profound appreciation not only for his native Austria, but for Italy and France, and for their shared contributions to what he labeled the “magnificent common edifice” of European culture. Zweig’s essays, including several translated into English for the first time in Messages from a Lost World, amount to songs of progress, bursting as they are with pride and fraternity." — Rain Taxi Review of Books

"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." — Education News

"Will delight Zweig superfans... rings with the delicate wit of his prescient criticisms." — The Morning Star

"Never has a book seemed more timely, more eloquent and persuasive, than this small collection of essays by Austrian novelist and man of letters, Stefan Zweig." — On Magazine

Author

Stefan Zweig was born in 1881 in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Between the wars, Zweig was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman, Amok and Fear.In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he left Austria, and lived in London, Bath and New York—a period during which he produced his most celebrated works: his only novel,Beware of Pity, and his memoir, The World of Yesterday. He eventually settled in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press. View titles by Stefan Zweig

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword by John Gray 9
Translator’s Introduction 15

The Sleepless World—1914 39
The Tower of Babel—1916 51
History as Poetess—1931 61
European Thought in Its Historical Development—1932 85
The Unification of Europe—1934 113
1914 and Today—1936 125
The Secret of Artistic Creation—1938 135
The Historiography of Tomorrow—1939 159
The Vienna of Yesterday—1940 183
In This Dark Hour—1941 207

Details of First Publication 213

Other Books by this Author

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