Rites of Spring : The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age

by Eksteins, Modris

• ISBN13: 9780395937587
• ISBN10: 0395937582
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-09-14
• Publisher: Houghton Miff

Summary

In a remarkable display of originality and discerning historical analysis, Rites of Spring describes the origins, the impact, and the aftermath of the Great War of 1914-1918, arguably the most traumatic event of this century. 16-page, black-and-white photograph insert.

Author Biography

Modris Ekstein is a professor of history at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus.

Table of Contents

Map of the Western Front	xi
Preface	xiii
Prologue: Venice	1	(8)
ACT ONE
Paris	9	(46)
Vision	9	(1)
May 29, 1913	10	(6)
Le Theatre Des Champs-Elysees	16	(5)
Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes	21	(12)
Rebellion	33	(6)
Confrontation and Liberation	39	(5)
Audience	44	(6)
Scandal as Success	50	(5)
Berlin	55	(40)
Ver Sacrum	55	(9)
Overture	64	(6)
Technique	70	(3)
Capital	73	(3)
Kultur	76	(4)
Culture and Revolt	80	(10)
War as Culture	90	(5)
In Flanders' Fields	95	(44)
A Corner of a Foreign Field	95	(3)
Guns of August	98	(11)
Peace on Earth	109	(6)
The Reason Why	115	(13)
Victorian Synthesis	128	(3)
Is There Honey Still For Tea?	131	(8)
ACT TWO
Rites of War	139	(31)
Battle Ballet	139	(3)
Themes	142	(13)
Transvaluation	155	(15)
Reason in Madness	170	(22)
Theirs Was Not to Reason Why	170	(6)
Duty	176	(16)
Sacred Dance	192	(16)
War God	192	(10)
Congregation	202	(6)
Journey to the Interior	208	(33)
War as Art	208	(7)
Art as Form	215	(8)
Art and Morality	223	(4)
Avant-Garde	227	(14)
ACT THREE
Night Dancer	241	(34)
The New Christ	242	(5)
Star	247	(5)
Lest We Forget	252	(9)
Itinerary and Symbol	261	(6)
New Worlds and Old	267	(4)
Associations	271	(4)
Memory	275	(25)
War Boom	275	(2)
Life of Death	277	(8)
Fame	285	(13)
Cloud Juggler	298	(2)
Spring Without End	300	(35)
Germany, Awake!	300	(5)
Victim Hero	305	(6)
Art as Life	311	(4)
Myth as Reality	315	(10)
``Es Ist Ein Fruhling Ohne Ende!''	325	(10)
Acknowledgments	335	(2)
Notes	337	(30)
Selected Sources	367	(4)
Index	371