Theyear1930canbeseenasthedawnofaperiodofdarkness,thebeginningofadecadethatAudenwouldstyle“low,dishonest.“Thatyearwasoneofthemostreflectivemomentsinmodernity.Aftertheoptimismofthenineteenthcentury,theWesthadstumbledintowarin1914.Itmanagedtosurviveaconflagration,butitfailedintheaftermathtocreatesomethingvalued.In1930,Europewasquestioningitselfanditsownviability.Whereareweheading?anumberofpublicintellectualsasked.Whoareweandhowdowebuildmoralsocialandpoliticalstructures?Canwecontinuetobelieveintheinsightsandhealingqualityofourculture?Majorthinkers--Mann,Woolf,Ortega,Freud,Brecht,Nardal,andHuxley--aswellasanumberofartists,includingPicassoandMagritte,andmusicians,suchasWeill,soughttograpplewithissuesthatremaincentraltoourlivestoday:theviabilityofasecularEuropewithEnlightenmentvaluescomingtotermswithadarkerviewofhumannaturemasscultureanditsdangers;theriseofthepoliticsofirrationalityidentityandthe“other“inWesterncivilizationnewwaystorepresentthepostwarworldtheepistemologicaldilemmainaworldofuncertainty;andthenewFascism--wasitanewnormoranaberration?ArthurHabermansees1930asawatershedyearintheintellectuallifeofEuropeandwiththisbook,thefirsttoseethecontributionsofthepublicintellectualsof1930asasingleentity,heforcesareconsiderationandreinterpretationoftheperiod.
