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Dec 18, 2017SkokieStaff_Steven rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
As a collection development librarian, I try to promote neglected writers of the past because, being dead, they do a poor job of promoting themselves. I’m glad to see that Pushkin Press is now republishing the historical essays of Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) in attractive new volumes. I greatly enjoyed his “Triumph and Disaster: Five Historical Miniatures” in which he turns his eye to five hinge moments of history including the battle of Waterloo, the fall of Constantinople, and Lenin’s journey to Russia in a sealed train. These are “historical miniatures” indeed, in which Zweig sacrifices everything to concision except those elements that make history vital, vivid, and even suspenseful. Zweig may not have been a great historian, but he was a great prose stylist who happened to write about history when he wasn’t writing fiction, journalism, or memoir. I can see why his historical writing was so popular in his lifetime and why it is being brought out again for a new audience. In fact, I could imagine Zweig today as a superb podcaster, inspiring legions of listeners to a love of history with his dramatic style.