Decline of the West: 1 - Hardcover

Spengler, Oswald

4.11

565 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394421795 ISBN 13: 9780394421797

Publisher: Random House USA Inc, 1945

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Oswald Spengler was born in 1880 at Blankenburg, Germany. He studied mathematics, philosophy, and history at Munich and Berlin. Except for his doctor's thesis on Heraclitus, he published nothing before the first volume of The Decline of the West, which appeared when he was thirty-eight. The Agadir crisis of 1911 provided the immediate incentive for his exhaustive investigations of the background and origins of our civilization. He chose his main title in 1912, finished the first draft of "Form and Actuality" ("Gestalt und Wirklichkeit") two years later, and published the volume in 1918. The second, extensively revised edition, from which the present translation was made, appeared in 1923. The concluding volume, "Perspectives of World-History" ("Welthistorische Perspektiven"), was published in 1922. The Decline of the West was first published in this country in 1906 (Vol. I) and 1928 (Vol. II).

For many years Spengler lived quietly in his home in Munich. thinking, writing, and pursuing his hobbies - the collecting of pictures and primitive weapons, listening to Beethoven quartets, reading the comedies of Shakespeare and Moliere, and taking occasional trips to the Harz Mountains and to Italy. He died suddenly of a heart attack in Munich three weeks before his fifty-sixth birthday.

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Review:

" Provocative and often dazzling. . . . An exciting excursion through history." - "Time"
" Audacious, profound . . . exciting and magnificent."
- "The New Republic
"" This grand panorama, this imaginative sweep, this staggering erudition, this Nietzschean prose, with its fine color and ringing force, mark a work that must endure." - "The New York Sun
"
" With monumental learning . . . Spengler surveys man's cosmic march. . . . Always forceful . . . eloquent."
- "The New York Times
"

"Provocative and often dazzling. . . . An exciting excursion through history." -"Time"
"Audacious, profound . . . exciting and magnificent."
-"The New Republic
""This grand panorama, this imaginative sweep, this staggering erudition, this Nietzschean prose, with its fine color and ringing force, mark a work that must endure." -"The New York Sun
"
"With monumental learning . . . Spengler surveys man's cosmic march. . . . Always forceful . . . eloquent."
-"The New York Times
"

Provocative and often dazzling. . . . An exciting excursion through history. Time
Audacious, profound . . . exciting and magnificent.
The New Republic
This grand panorama, this imaginative sweep, this staggering erudition, this Nietzschean prose, with its fine color and ringing force, mark a work that must endure. The New York Sun

With monumental learning . . . Spengler surveys man s cosmic march. . . . Always forceful . . . eloquent.
The New York Times
"

About the Author:

Oswald Spengler, one of the most controversial historians of the twentieth century, was born in Blankenburg, Germany, in 1880. He studied mathematics, philosophy, and history in Munich and Berlin. Except for his doctor’s thesis on Heraclitus, he published nothing before the first volume of The Decline of the West, which appeared when he was thirty-eight. The Agadir crisis of 1911 provided the immediate incentive for his exhaustive investigations of the background and origins of our civilization. Spengler chose his main title in 1912, finished a draft of the first volume two years later, and published it in 1918. The second, concluding volume was published in 1922. The Decline of the West was first published in this country in 1926 (Vol. 1) and 1928 (Vol. 2); this abridged edition was first published here in 1962.

For many years Spengler lived quietly in his home in Munich, thinking, writing, and pursuing his hobbies–collecting pictures and primitive weapons, listening to Beethoven quartets, and reading the comedies of Shakespeare and Moli�re. He took occasional trips to the Harz Mountains and to Italy. In 1936, three weeks before his fifty-sixth birthday, he died in Munich of a heart attack.
From the Trade Paperback edition.

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