A sad read on so many levels. Reading the effects of two wars on a pacifist intellectual who wanted greater bonds across Europe and instead had to witness what the continent was condemned to by lesser minds. A Jewish man fully integrated into the Austrian society that he loved, until suddenly he wasn't. Knowing he killed himself in the depths of the war, so didn't see Hitler defeated or the foundation of the EU. But then, now, decades on and we're making the same mistakes again; idolising liars, voting for greater divisions amongst ourselves, prioritising borders over lives. 

This in important read to understand just what a shattering effect two wars in close succession had on Europe and also to try and learn from that for ourselves before it's too late.

I read a German level B1 adaptation of this for school, so I can't really make an accurate analysis of the whole book. Anyway, this was an insightful read. When talking about WW1 and WW2, the main voices are always those of the people who have been at the front for the first and people who have been in concentration camps for the second, so it was interesting to see the perspective of someone who saw both "from a distance", since he didn't fight during the Great War and escaped before it was too late during Hitler's regime. His account of the cultural climate of the early 1900s and his meetings with famous intellectuals of his time was also really interesting. Can't say much about the writing style since I don't know how faithful the writing in the adaptation was to the original one, but I enjoyed it.