The Decline of the WestSince its first publication more than eighty years ago, The Decline of the West has ranked as one of the most widely read and talked about books of our time. A sweeping account of Western culture by a historian of legendary intellect, it is an astonishingly informed, forcefully eloquent, thrillingly controversial work that advances a world view based on the cyclical rise and fall of civilizations. This abridgment presents the most significant of Oswald Spengler’s arguments, linked by illuminating explanatory passages. It makes available in one volume a masterpiece of grand-scale history and far-reaching prophesy that remains essential reading for anyone interested in the factors that determine the course of civilizations. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 3 |
THE MEANING OF NUMBERS | 41 |
THE PROBLEM OF WORLDHISTORY | 70 |
THE SYMBOLISM | 87 |
Space and death 88 Spatial depth as time become rigid The prime | 94 |
Architecture and divinities 97 The Egyptian and the Chinese prime | 107 |
Arts as the symbol of the higher order 115 Apollinian and Faustian | 121 |
Character of the Baroque 125 Symbolism of | 133 |
CITIES AND PEOPLES | 245 |
CROMWELL | 319 |
THE PROBLEM | 354 |
STATE AND HISTORY | 360 |
PHILOSOPHY OF POLITICS | 382 |
THE FORMWORLD OF ECONOMIC | 398 |
THE FORMWORLD OF ECONOMIC | 409 |
INDEX follows page | 415 |
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Common terms and phrases
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