I love this book for its month by month look at the last year of peace, before the Great War. Illies does a masterful job of linking the political with the artistic. The proximity of Hitler and Stalin provided at the beginning of the book is really interesting to think about. The mental war going on in the minds of Kafka is also enlightening.
Really what this goes to show is that the world of 1913, while not perfect, was certainly not that bad either. Clearly the 20th Century is shown at the apex of Western and Christian control. That decline began with the descent to war in 1914 and continues to this day.
As a month by month account this book is just plain fun to read. The translation is done very well. I highly recommend this book to all people who want a snapshot into the lives of people who were movers and shakers in that last peaceful year.
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Customers say
Customers appreciate the book's historical accuracy and scholarly research, with one review highlighting its great insight into pre-WWI Europe. Moreover, they find the book interesting, with one describing it as a wonderful snapshot of the year 1913, and another noting how it masterfully links political with artistic elements. Additionally, the book features well-known characters, and customers enjoy its humor. However, the readability receives mixed feedback, with some finding it wonderfully readable while others find it tedious.
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19 customers mention historical accuracy, 17 positive, 2 negative
wonderfully anecdotal, scholarly research. Makes the people of the period come alive, particularly the German Expressionists....Read more
A terrific overview of events, gossip and people in the arts and psychiatric (Freud, Jung) world in the year before WWIRead more
...The mental war going on in the minds of Kafka is also enlightening....Read more
Very informative and entertaining pictures of various artists, authors, entertainers, and thinkers and how they and life were in the year before the...Read more
14 customers mention enjoyment, 12 positive, 2 negative
A friend referred me to this--it's really a great read. There's a huge amount of historical detail, and (seemingly) also much creative elaboration....Read more
This is a wonderful book! I had to limit my reading to one chapter a day. Otherwise, I would have read this book in one sitting....Read more
Excellent book. The description of Europe, especially Vienna, just before the storm is so vivid and so wild, it just defies description....Read more
My english is not good enough to describe what I learnt reading this Great BookRead more
14 customers mention interest, 14 positive, 0 negative
Interesting, but a little boring going month by month through 1913 with short paragraphs on individuals. Worth a quick read.Read more
Interesting book that can help us imagine that the the state of world without wars is not a permanent state and that our everyday's lifes can change...Read more
...It is fascinating, how their lives coalesced and intertwined during that pre-war year and how the political, cultural and social tides of the time...Read more
...London ...ALL the artists mentioned in the book were being shown ...Fascinating .Read more
13 customers mention insight, 12 positive, 1 negative
wonderfully anecdotal, scholarly research. Makes the people of the period come alive, particularly the German Expressionists....Read more
...Irony, humor, compassion, perspective, and a great sense of drama propel it forward....Read more
This is a very involved book which took me a long time to read because I had to go to Google often to learn more about the various people and their...Read more
The past is prologue....Read more
8 customers mention character development, 7 positive, 1 negative
This work gives context to the brilliant constellation of characters wandering, encouraging, taunting, flirting and seducing one another day-by-day...Read more
...and creative spirits of the early 20th century and highlights their personal relationships with a day-to-day feel that is involving and seductive....Read more
It covers many well known characters at the beginning of the marks they made in life. There are many books out there detailing their lives later.Read more
...through the year, month by month, skipping around between locations and personalities....Read more
7 customers mention humor, 7 positive, 0 negative
...Unlike any other work, it's in a genre of its own. Irony, humor, compassion, perspective, and a great sense of drama propel it forward....Read more
Wonderful, witty and whimsical journey into the intellectual and artistic life of Germany and Austria at the end of the long nineteenth century that...Read more
...Although I found some of the book's anecdotes interesting or amusing, I found the book overall highly tedious, to the point that toward the end I...Read more
I love the fun of this book, its sardonic tone and just the sheer reach of the hijinks of the time. Sex wasn't invented or liberated in the 1960s....Read more
4 customers mention creativity, 4 positive, 0 negative
...The book covers all popular artists, scientists, writers and other historical characters such as the young Hitler and Stalin....Read more
...It humanizes the greatest modernist artists and creative spirits of the early 20th century and highlights their personal relationships with a day-to-...Read more
A fascinating glimpse into pre WWI creative and artistic world primarily in Berlin, Paris and Prague.Read more
...'s a huge amount of historical detail, and (seemingly) also much creative elaboration....Read more
12 customers mention readability, 7 positive, 5 negative
...As a month by month account this book is just plain fun to read. The translation is done very well....Read more
It's interesting but rather a tedious read.Read more
...All in all a very interesting and entertaining read, showing a different angle from the usual historical books.Read more
This book is a little tedious, interesting, but tedious and a little artzy fartzy for my taste....Read more
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Top reviews from other countries
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ThomasReviewed in Germany on November 24, 2025
Die gute Welt von Gestern!
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase - ian moutterReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2019
Excellent, first class
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase -
- Maelen MoonsingerReviewed in Canada on May 14, 2022
And then the boiler burst.....
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
