Thunder at Twilight: Vienna, 1913-1914
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Author Description
Thunder at Twilight is a landmark of historical vision, drawing on hitherto untapped sources to illuminate two crucial years in the life of the extraordinary city of Vienna—and in the life of the twentieth century. It was during the carnival of 1913 that a young Stalin arrived on a mission that would launch him into the upper echelon of Russian revolutionaries, and it was here that he first collided with Trotsky. It was in Vienna that the failed artist Adolf Hitler kept daubing watercolors and spouting tirades at fellow drifters in a flophouse. Here Archduke Franz Ferdinand had a troubled audience with Emperor Franz Joseph—and soon the bullet that killed the archduke would set off the Great War that would kill ten million more. With luminous prose that has twice made him a finalist for the National Book Award, Frederic Morton evokes the opulent, elegant, incomparable sunset metropolis—Vienna on the brink of cataclysm.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates the cultural and political atmosphere of Vienna during the pivotal years of 1913 and 1914 to explain how the city served as a crucible for the forces that would define the twentieth century. Frederic Morton, a noted historian and biographer, utilizes archival research and primary accounts to reconstruct the daily lives of figures who would later alter the course of global history. He argues that the city's unique blend of opulence and decay created a specific environment where radical ideologies and personal ambitions collided just before the outbreak of the First World War.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Detailed accounts of the social and political climate in Vienna during the final years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
- Biographical sketches of historical figures including Joseph Stalin, Leon Trotsky, Adolf Hitler, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
- Analysis of the intersection between personal failure and political radicalization within the city's transient population.
Scope Limits
- The text does not provide a comprehensive military history of the First World War.
- It focuses primarily on the specific geographic and temporal window of 1913-1914 rather than a broad survey of the entire century.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Critics and historians frequently praise the work for its evocative prose and ability to synthesize complex historical threads into a cohesive narrative. Readers often note that the book provides a vivid, atmospheric look at a specific moment in time that serves as a precursor to modern geopolitical shifts.
Page Count:
385
Publication Date:
1991-01-01
Publisher:
Crowell-Collier Pr
ISBN-10:
0020353006
ISBN-13:
9780020353003
History
Biography
20th Century
Cultural History
Austria
European History
