The Future of the European Past

By Hilton Kramer

Book Overview

It is no longer news that the history of the European past and its role in shaping American cultural life is under severe attack. In virtually every university that offers a liberal arts curriculum, in every arts institution that deals with European classics, in the offices of every publication that engages in intellectual pursuits, the discussion of the past has become the principal battleground for mapping out the future of our culture. In this provocative and insightful collection of essays first published in The New Criterion, ten distinguished critics reflect on the fate of Europe's cultural and political legacy as we approach the turn of the century. On subjects ranging from the collapse of communism and its implications for European society, to the study of the classics, to the prospects for serious music and art, these essays offer analyses marked by wit, independence, and commanding intelligence. The contributors include David Pryce-Jones, Anne Applebaum, Roger Scruton, John Gross, Ferdinand Mount, John Herington, Keith Windschuttle, Mark Steyn, Hilton Kramer, and Roger Kimball. The Future of the European Past is a major contribution to the debate over some of the most pressing cultural issues of our time.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566631785
• ISBN13: 9781566631785
• Release Date: August 1997
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
• Length: 251 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Brilliant and utterly compulsive reading

This is a brilliant and compulsive book, though in its dissection of our cultural malaise far more terrifying than any escapade by Hannibal Lecter. Read it if you care about the future of civilization.

"irritating"

Now I have to read this work. Could it possibly be more "irritating" than the January fifth review?! We shall see. All in all, it sounds like the perfect antitode to today's unconscious and helpless relativism.

Sanity vindicated

This is an elegantly written, totally absorbing antidote to much of the pretentious humbug that nowadays passes for profundity. I recommend it without reserve.