In the Future of Yesterday offers a refreshing approach to the life and work of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, delving into his considerable contribution to world literature, rooted in the Austro-Jewish tradition.

A world traveller from the outset, Zweig liked to uproot himself – but whether he stayed in London, New York, or eventually Brazil, his literary baggage continued to contain the flair of fin de siècle Vienna.

Looking anew at Zweig’s influential time in England and offering fresh insights into his final years in the United States and Brazil, Görner discusses Zweig’s prolific literary output in relation to his life and treats his political views on Europe, Zionism, and the world order with great depth and scrutiny.

Most importantly, In the Future of Yesterday shows Zweig as a towering figure of a form of writing that was bursting with life and was written in the knowledge that there can only be a future if we remain conscious of the past.

‘Rüdiger Görner’s In the Future of Yesterday: A Life of Stefan Zweig is an elegant and compassionate look at the contrasts, aspirations and disasters of its subject’s age. ’

‘In the Future of Yesterday provides a delightful appreciation of his life and work.’

Recommended 

Like all literary biographies written by critics, this one has to straddle between a narrative of the author’s life and a full critical review of his works. No doubt when this book appears in German it will receive the attention it deserves on the latter score. As it stands now, it is the best one can hope for on the former count.

Rüdiger Görner was professor of German with comparative literature at Queen Mary University of London. The founder of the Ingeborg Bachmann Centre for Austrian Literature and the founding director of the Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations, his books include biographies of Rainer Maria Rilke, Georg Trakl, and Oskar Kokoschka.