Fin-De-Siecle Vienna : Politics and Culture (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

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It is also a moving vindication of historical study itself, in the face of modernism's defiant suggestion that history is obsolete."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 A Pulitzer Prize Winner and 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It is also a moving vindication of historical study itself, in the face of modernism's defiant suggestion that history is obsolete.'-- David A. Hollinger, History Book Club Review'Each of [the seven separate studies] can be read separately....Yet they are so artfully designed and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 A landmark book from one of the original scholars of our time: a magnificent revelation of turn-of-the-century Vienna where out of a crisis of political & social disintegration so much of modern art & thought was born. This edition contains: Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Politics & the psyche: Schnitzler & Hoffmannsthal The Ringstrasse, its critics & the birth of urban modernism Politics in a new key: an Austrian trio Politics & patricide in Freud's Interpretation of dreams Gustav Klimt: painting & the crisis of the liberal ego The transformation of the garden Explosion in the garden: Kokoschka & Schoenberg Index A 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. Politics And The Psyche: Schnitzler And Hofmannsthal -- The Ringstrasse, Its Critics, And The Birth Of Urban Modernism -- Politics In A New Key: An Austrian Trio -- Politics And Patricide In Freud's Interpretation Of Dreams -- Gustav Klimt: Painting And The Crisis Of The Liberal Ego -- The Transformation Of The Garden -- Explosion In The Garden: Kokoschka And Schoenberg. Carl E. Schorske. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Seven interlinked essays on Habsburg Vienna in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries focus on the intersection of politics and culture and the achievements of the city's political geniuses AT THE CLOSE of World War I, Maurice Ravel recorded in La valse the violent death of the nineteenth-century world.