Summary of The World of YesterdayÂ
“The World of Yesterday” is Stefan Zweig’s autobiography, chronicling his life during the last decades of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the interwar period, and the rise of fascism.
Reasons to read The World of Yesterday
Zweig’s memoir “The World of Yesterday” offers an intimate portrayal of Europe before the First Word War and during the interbellum. As one of the most popular writers of his time, Stefan Zweig recounts his travels across Europe and his encounters with the literary giants of his time such as Rilke, Joyce, and Hofmannsthal, as well as composers like Mahler and Schönberg, and other prominent figures including Sigmund Freud. “The World of Yesterday” captures the atmosphere of Vienna and Salzburg from 1880 to 1940 and of the cultural circles that Stefan Zweig frequented. In essence, this book is a tribute to a Europe lost to the devastations of the two World Wars. Other notable works by Zweig include novellas such as “Letter from an Unknown Woman”, “Amok”, “Fear”, “Confusion of Feelings”, “Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman”, and “The Royal Game” (“Chess Story”) as well as his novel “Beware of Pity”, and his biographies on Marie Antionette, Mary Stuart, and Magellan.
Setting: Vienna (Austria), etc.
Novel set in Austria (Vienna and Salzburg); and many other countries and cities such as Paris, Brussels, Berlin, London, etc.
Original title: Die Welt von Gestern. Erinnerungen eines Europäers
Year of publication: 1944
Nr of pages: 472
