In the Shadow of Catastrophe: German Intellectuals Between Apocalypse and Enlightenment

Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism #14

by Anson Rabinbach

These essays by eminent European intellectual and cultural historian Anson Rabinbach address the writings of key figures in twentieth-century German philosophy. Rabinbach explores their ideas in relation to the two world wars and the horrors facing Europe at that time.Analyzing the work of Benjamin and Bloch, he suggests their indebtedness to the traditions of Jewish messianism. In a discussion of Hugo Ball's little-known Critique of the German Intelligentsia, Rabinbach reveals the curious intellectual career of the Dadaist and antiwar activist turned-nationalist and anti-Semite. His examination of Heidegger's "Letter on Humanism" and Jaspers's The Question of German Guilt illuminates the complex and often obscure political referents of these texts. Turning to Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment, Rabinbach offers an arresting new interpretation of this central text of the critical theory of the Frankfurt School. Subtly and persuasively argued, his book will become an indispensable reference point for all concerned with twentieth-century German history and thought.

Genres: Philosophy

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Anson Gilbert Rabinbach was an American historian of modern Europe and the Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History, Emeritus at Princeton University. He is best known for his writings on labor, Nazi Germany, Austria, and European thought in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 1973 he co-founded the journal New German Critique, which he continued to co-edit.

Reviews

[Christina Dongowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one bothered to proofread  this eBook and checked if the footnotes are properly linked. They're not. 
It's basically a collection of essays, so there are some redundancies. You should have a good grasp on German intellectual history, because it tackles some rather specific questions. I recommend the essays on Bloch and Benjamin and on The Dialectics of Enlightenment. 

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has become one of my favourite books!