Rites of Spring : The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age | 
| Author: Modris Eksteins
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 132300
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0395937582
Dewey Decimal Number: 909.82
UPC: 046442937580
EAN: 9780395937587
ASIN: 0395937582
Publication Date: September 14, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Dazzling in its originality, witty and perceptive in unearthing patterns of behavior that history has erased, RITES OF SPRING probes the origins, the impact, and the aftermath of World War I -- from the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. "The Great War," as Modris Eksteins writes, "was the psychological turning point . . . for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places." In this "bold and fertile book" (Atlantic Monthly), Eksteins goes on to chart the seismic shifts in human consciousness brought about by this great cataclysm through the lives and words of ordinary people, works of literature, and such events as Lindbergh's transatlantic flight and the publication of the first modern bestseller, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. RITES OF SPRING is a remarkable and rare work, a cultural history that redefines the way we look at our past and toward our future.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 The most interesting cultural history of 20th Century Europe available April 16, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Rites of Spring is an unparalleled work of cultural and historical synthesis, and easily the most interesting cultural history of 20th Century Europe available.
One of the best books on the Great War - ever April 4, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read excerpts of this in university, and then purchased the book as it was so compelling. I have never read anything that comes close to really giving one a true account of the soldier's experience in the First World War. The descriptions are poetic and profound, and the book puts it together in a manner that conveys the nuances of the war in ways no film or interview can - not any that I've ever seen anyway. There are still passages that stick in my head (years later) because they are so vivid and eye-opening - more so than anything else I've read or seen on the MANY documentaries and films and research I've done about this time. If you're doing research on this period - this is an excellent book. A good companion is Siegred Sassoon's Memoirs of an Infantry Officer (much more factual than the embellished Robert Graves' book Good-bye to All That. This is worth every penny and something you'll refer to again and again if you're a history buff and like to read.
Superbly Written Book December 21, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book totally changed the way I thought about early 20th Century history. Eksteins is not only ingenious in thought, but also in the way he arranges the story. This books is deserving of all the accolades it has recieved.
Cubist Warfare May 12, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Professor Ecksteins' book is, on one level, a history that places the Great War in the context of the popular cultural zeitgeist that produced it. While other books have analyzed the outbreak of the war from the perspective of politicians and diplomats, Ecksteins portrays it as a popular cultural upheaval. In this way, this book distinguishes itself from other histories of the period.
On a deeper level, however, the book is a meditative essay on the problem of modernity. In a brief but elegant way, the author tells the story of how the West descended into aesthetic nihilism as it entered the 20th Century. At the turn of the 20th Century, Europe (in culture, art and thought) gave up on the prospect of reason and ethics, and placed all of its hope in aesthetics as an absolute standard of value. By abandoning the metaphysical True and Good in favor of existential Beauty, European culture freed itself to transgress all rules and restraints in pursuit of the tragic and the sublime. The author points out that this was as true on the battlefield as it was in Stravinsky. It was this cultural movement that enabled "total war" and set the tone for the century to come.
The reason this book is so important today is that modernity has not left us; indeed, it has metastasized around the globe. While this book suggests no solution to our problem, it does help to explain how we got here.
A Must read! March 6, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
A brilliant book and one that should be read by anyone with an interest in the first half of the twentieth century. Eksteins brings a fresh and thought provoking outlook to the tired tropes about the Great War. It was the first book I read that signaled a new shift in the perspective of that war. Other writers that take off from here are Paul Fussell, Niall Ferguson and Hew Strachan. But this is the first and by far the best. Don't miss this extraordinary book.
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