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The Heritage of Our Times

Understanding culture through the lens of history and ideology

Ernst Bloch author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:20th Aug '09

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The Heritage of Our Times cover

This influential work examines modern culture and its legacy, focusing on the rise of Nazism and its roots in German history. The Heritage of Our Times is essential reading.

This book is a classic work of modern social, political, and cultural theory by one of the most important and influential European thinkers of the 20th century. The author illuminates a crucial period in the history of modern Europe by examining the culture of Weimar and Nazi Germany. The Heritage of Our Times serves as a brilliant exploration of modern culture and its legacy, emphasizing that genuine cultural traditions are not confined to neatly labeled historical periods, but are also found in the open and experimental cultural processes of our time.

One of the most compelling aspects of this work is its contemporary analysis of the rise of Nazism. It delves into the false roots of Nazism within German history and mythology, particularly as ideologies such as Blood and Soil and the Blond Beast began to take hold of the German populace. This critical examination provides readers with a deeper understanding of how these ideas emerged and gained traction during a tumultuous time.

The breadth and depth of the author's vision, along with the rich diversity of interests presented, ensure that The Heritage of Our Times holds a significant place as one of the key texts of the 20th century. It challenges readers to reconsider the complexities of cultural heritage and the ongoing impact of historical narratives on contemporary society.

"An exemplary work of modern literature." 

Times Literary Supplement

"A half-century later, Bloch's untimely meditations on culture and politics retain their explosive power. Europe's contested legacy, which he sought to rescue from fascist appropriation, remains still be be claimed amidst the turmoil of the 1990s. However discredited his own political allegiances may now seem, Bloch's intransigent philosophy of hope has gained new urgency and immediacy."

Martin Jay, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley

"Bloch's Heritage of Our Times is a shocking expressionist excursion, developed in montage form, through the dialectics and unresolved contradictions of everyday experience and cultural manifestations of the early Nazi period in Germany. The work is a rich compendium of explosive insights into historical and cultural consciousness that force themselves into our times too."

David Frisby, London School of Economics

ISBN: 9780745647111

Dimensions: 224mm x 160mm x 22mm

Weight: 539g

384 pages