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In most histories of Europe before the First World War, modern life in Habsburg Mitteleuropa takes on a decidedly gloomy cast. Centering on Vienna in the twilight years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such accounts describe the failure of rationalism and the rise of a dangerous politics of fantasy. This book tells a different story, highlighting a generation of Czech writers and artists distinguished by their affirmative encounter with the modern world in the first decades of the twentieth century. Novelist and playwright Karel ?apek, along with other members of his cohort, embraced the possibilities of the post-Habsburg era. Tracing the roots of ?apek´s generation to cubist art and turn-of-the-century philosophy, author Thomas Ort shows that the form of modernism they championed led not into the thickets of fascism or communism but in fact closer to liberal political ideals.

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1. Prague 1911: The Cubist City
2. Between Life and Form: Karel ?apek and the Prewar Modernist Generation
3. The Lessons of Life: Karel ?apek and the First World War
4. Art ? Life: The ´?apek Generation´ and Dev?tsil in Interwar Czechoslovakia
5. The Self as Empty Space and Crowd: Karel ?apek and the Czechoslovak Condition

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"Ort sets out to explore Capek´s life, work, and intellectual background as well as the cultural life in Prague of the early twentieth century. ... There is no doubt the book is well-researched and sheds light on many aspects of cultural life in modern Prague. ... his analysis manages to capture how rich and intertwined the worlds of literature, philosophy, architecture, and the visual arts were in Prague in the first few decades of the twentieth century." (Marta Filipova, Austrian History Yearbook, Vol. 48, 2017)
"Ort´s text should be of interest to students not only of Slavic literature and history but of European modernism in general. Summing Up: Highly recommended." - CHOICE

"Thomas Ort is a pleasure to read... his writing is lucid and unpretentious." - Times Literary Supplement

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Thomas Ort is Associate Professor of History at Queens College-City University of New York, USA.

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