The Timetables of History [antikvár]

PUBLISHER'S NOTE The Timetables of History is a direct translation of much of the material that appears in the original great work on which it is based, Kulturfahrplan (The Culture Timetables), a spectacular success in Germany ever since its creator, Werner Stein, produced it in 1946. In the intervening years between then and now, it has been updated several times and in its various editions has sold in the millions of copies. Obviously an English-language version of this fascinating and prestigious work was eminently desirable, but for more than twenty years the difficulties appeared to be so great as to make a translation impracticable, both from an editorial and an economic standpoint. Fortunately, in the late I960's a man emerged who was not only eager to tackle the task but ideally equipped to accomphsh it. Bernard Grun, born in the Czech part of the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy and educated in law and philosophy at the universities of Prague and Vienna, had by then been settled in London for decades. An eminent musicologist, he was almost as well-known as a historian with an encyclopedic talent and turn of mind. Completely bilingual in German and English, he could translate, delete, revise, and add fresh material, so that a new volume would emerge that would be a pertinent and useful one for the English-language reading public. Additionally, to make sure that sufficient emphasis was given to American topics, the manuscript was then turned over to an American scholar, Wallace Brockway, whose authority and experience both in history and in compiling encyclopedic works were very similar to Mr. Grun's. Sadly, after several years of work on the project, both men died before the first edition of this book could be printed and published, and this was a source of deep regret to all of us. We are grateful to a number of people for their help in checking, rounding off, updating, and completing what had been left unfinished, and in this connection acknowledgments are due to Helen Barrow, Sophie Sorkin, and Elise Sachs. Special acknowledgments go to Laurence Urdang and his firm, who not only did a superb job for the first edition, but also saw to the complete expanding of this new, updated edition. Peter Schwed Chairman of the Editorial Board