Since its first publication in two volumes between 1918-1923, The Decline of the West has ranked as one of the most widely read and most talked about books of our time. In all its various editions, it has sold nearly 100,000 copies. A twentieth-century Cassandra, Oswald Spengler thoroughly probed the origin and "fate" of our civilization, and the result can be (and has been) read as a prophesy of the Nazi regime. His challenging views have led to harsh criticism over the years, but the knowledge and eloquence that went ...
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Since its first publication in two volumes between 1918-1923, The Decline of the West has ranked as one of the most widely read and most talked about books of our time. In all its various editions, it has sold nearly 100,000 copies. A twentieth-century Cassandra, Oswald Spengler thoroughly probed the origin and "fate" of our civilization, and the result can be (and has been) read as a prophesy of the Nazi regime. His challenging views have led to harsh criticism over the years, but the knowledge and eloquence that went into his sweeping study of Western culture have kept The Decline of the West alive. As the face of Germany and Europe as a whole continues to change each day, The Decline of the West cannot be ignored. The abridgment, prepared by the German scholar Helmut Werner, with the blessing of the Spengler estate, consists of selections from the original (translated into English by Charles Francis Atkinson) linked by explanatory passages which have been put into English by Arthur Helps. H. Stuart Hughes has written a new introduction for this edition. In this engrossing and highly controversial philosophy of history, Spengler describes how we have entered into a centuries-long "world-historical" phase comparable to late antiquity. Guided by the philosophies of Goethe and Nietzsche, he rejects linear progression, and instead presents a world view based on the cyclical rise and decline of civilizations. He argues that a culture blossoms from the soil of a definable landscape and dies when it has exhausted all of its possibilities. Despite Spengler's reputation today as an extreme pessimist, The Decline of the West remains essential reading for anyone interested in the history of civilization.
Read Less
I bought this because it was taking too long to get through it for using the library copy. I am going through the 100 Greatest books list and this was on it. I debated whether I really wanted to read it, as philosophy is not my favorite subject. However, I can see that it is a seminal work and whether I agree with Spengler or not, he was a well-read and intelligent man. This work paved the way for how people thought about history. But it is dense and he uses examples from all sorts of fields and isn't easy to follow. Enter at your own risk! But if you want to be edified, this is the book for you.
Mythos
May 25, 2007
Decline of the West
Ok. This is a tome, I believe is the correct word for such a massive volume of work. Just began and got through Chapter 1 but had to lay it aside for other reading commitments. It is a book that has been on my reading list for many years due to its constant reference by one of my favorite gurus, Joseph Campbell. I plan to slowly make my way through it and even if some of the material is now outdated, glean from it what relevance still lingers upon a land of freedom.
