Zweig: the moral conscience of a Europe at war4 reading minutes

At the dawn of the 20th century, faced with the spectre of the return of war, Stefan Zweig threw all his energies into a losing battle: trying to restore Europe's sense of unity.

On the occasion of a diary's tenth anniversary, there's nothing unjustified about delving into Stefan Zweig's work. A witness to his times, Zweig sailed against the tide during the First World War, before being forced into exile in the 1930s until his death in Brazil in 1942; he never gave in to the diktat of mainstream thought at a time when his pacifism was tantamount to treachery; he loved Switzerland, from Geneva to Zurich, a haven for free spirits in wartime; he was passionate about «what is universally human in man», while refusing to fall into abstract universalism. Yes, Stefan Zweig, a brilliant and passionate writer, is a model for all those who want to know more.