The World Of Yesterday - by Stefan Zweig

A complete journey into European life before and between the world wars.

Zweig, as a true cosmopolitan, seems always at the center of history in the making, and more specifically, always close to some of the greatest artistic and literary minds of the time.

The book is full of easy historical narrative and deep reflections on society, which come from being so much in touch with the culture of the countries he visited.

He had an amazing ability to create connections on his travels, while always reflecting on his ideas of pacifism and wariness of growing authoritarian regimes such as nazi Germany and communism in the Soviet Union.

It’s heartbreaking to know this book was basically his final note, having committed suicide shortly after finishing the manuscript and being published posthumously.

Specially in the last chapters, it was notable his growing anguish of being forced out of his native Austria and of living as a man without a country, in the face of nazism.