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C.H.BECK
Anna-Sophia Mäder
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German
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And Suddenly the World is Different

Tanja Stelzer

Shining Hours of Humanity

Extraordinary moments that inspire hope ‘I named them this way because they shine bright and unchanging like stars in the night of transience.’ - Stefan Zweig on his title ‘Shining Hours of Humanity’ Climate change, the pandemic, war – the melody of our age is a bleak one. But there are, and always have been, defining moments which keep our faith in human nature alive, in spite of everything – in spite of humanity’s self-destructive tendencies, its mistakes and its inadequacies. These are the extraordinary moments in which human beings show how great they can be, and which inspire hope for a future we have yet to forge.

‘Shining Hours of Humanity’ was the title Stefan Zweig gave to his 1927 collection of historic miniatures. Almost a hundred years later, the weekly newspaper Die Zeit published a new collection of shining hours, which gave rise to this book. These defining moments are different from Zweig’s and reflect our changed view of the world. They range from hippies throwing LSD parties, to the great speech made by Social Democrat Otto Wels against Hitler’s Enabling Act. Some are great adventures, like Thor Heyerdahl’s on his raft in the Pacific, and some involve scientific progress, like when Rosalind Franklin decoded the structure of DNA only to see three men take credit for her work. Some are great achievements, like the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and some are missed opportunities, as in the case of Patrice Lumumba, who was a beacon of hope to many Africans before his execution in 1961. They are also deeply moving – like the story of the American pilots who rescued Vietnamese villagers from their own US army comrades during the My Lai massacre: a spark of humanity even in the midst of the most horrific barbarity. And these defining moments are all worth reading about – because great history always consists, first and foremost, of great stories.

• In cooperation with Die ZEIT

• Shining hours for our time

• Deeply moving stories

• There is a little light to be found even in the darkest moments

• Featuring texts by Iris Radisch, Michael Thumann, Volker Weidermann and other prominent authors

• Great history consists of great stories

• A perfect gift and a rewarding read

Available products
Book

18.00 EUR

Published 2023-10-12T14:37:55.354Z by C.H.Beck , ISBN: 9783406807367

ISBN: 9783406807367