Svět včerejška - Vzpomínky jednoho Evropana

The memoirs of the world-famous Austrian author are one of his best and most important books, but also one of the sources for understanding modern European culture. The book captures, in the form of eyewitness accounts, all the most important events of modern European history, the atmosphere of its cities and encounters with dozens of Europe's most important personalities. \The world fame of Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) dates back to the end of the First World War. Throughout his life, in all circumstances, at home and abroad, he researched and wrote, and his novels, short stories, biographies of famous people, and essays on current and historical issues have appealed to people of many nations and countries, awakening their desire to understand man, the world, and key moments in history. When he visits Austria in 1937, it is clear to him that it is the last time. But some friends reject his scepticism. "They were lauding the spectacular demonstrations of the Patriotic Front, while I had already observed in Salzburg that most of the demonstrators wore the prescribed badge on their coat lapels - I had studied history too much, written about it, not to know that the majority would immediately swing over to the side where the centre of gravity of the momentary power lay," he writes in his memoirs, in which he creates a panoramic picture of the times, giving testimony to the dramatic events of Europe. Anti-fascists become desperate, impoverished refugees; Jews fleeing the continent become Zionists and assimilationists; brilliant philosophers, artists, physicists turn into beggars and outlaws, and only a few manage to remain calm and die standing up, as their conscience dictates. At the beginning of the 1940s, when the new world war is in full swing, Zweig loses his strength, succumbs to depression and, despite all the honours Brazil pays him, decides to commit suicide in his house in Petropolis. His memoirs are an important source for understanding modern European culture and its representatives, talented poets, writers, musicians, artists, philosophers, politicians such as Verhaeren, Herzl, Rilke, Rathenau, Rolland, Rodin, Duhamel, Du Gard, Bloch, Hesse, Romain, Gorky, Richard Strauss and others. He maintained long-standing friendly relations with many of them, welcoming them to his European house on Capuchin Hill, which fell into the hands of the Aryan army after the Anschluss and remained there for many years after the war. The world of yesterday captures the reader's heart and intellect with its unsentimental form, brilliance of language, and clear critical view of the world, Europe, and the author's native Vienna.

Czech edition