1900: A Fin-de-Siècle Reader

by Mike Jay (Editor), Michael Neve (Editor)

At the turn of the nineteenth century, just like today, many people were terrified -- or thrilled -- by the seemingly unstoppable progress of science, wrestling with questions of sexual identity, and turning away from traditional religions or taking refuge in spiritualism, the paranormal, and "new age" philosophies. This selection of more than 120 writings from the four decades around 1900 brings together newspaper clippings, poetry, pulp fiction, scientific polemic, and sexological speculation, alongside classic texts by Conan Doyle, Stevenson, Wells, Dickens, Ibsen, Ruskin, and Zola. Vividly illuminating both the similarities and the differences between millennial and fin-de-siecle anxieties, this dazzling anthology forces us to look again at the progress we have made (or failed to make) in the last hundred years.

Genres: Philosophy, History

384 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2000

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Reviews

[Kimberley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off very interesting but got dull quite fast and I found myself skimming a lot of it. An interesting concept but would have been better had it bad writing both from the fin-de-siècle AND the millennium to really compare. Generally just quite dense, and this coming from someone who is used to and enjoys reading 19th century texts.
Perhaps for someone with more of an interest in science and scientific theory than in literature and history, as it provides all of these but with a heavy scientific leaning.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t waste your time. I could see this being used as a supplemental reader for a university course.