Thomas Etzemüller
Hand grenade or drawing pen
On the ambivalence of modernity

Many books focus on the catastrophic events leading up to 1945: collapsing democracies, wars, the Holocaust and Stalinism. But some of the European democracies that were founded at the end of the First World War have proved resistant to totalitarian challenges. I emphasise the history of modernity as a truly ambivalent history: While some paid homage to masculinity and combat, elsewhere "social engineers" were building homes, schools and hospitals. They wanted to instruct people to educate themselves to become enlightened, rational "new men". But there was another side to this too, because rigid exclusion is part of this history.

This book not only tells of a complex epoch, it is also a wistful commentary on the present: the multiple crises in the 20th century could be dealt with in a civilised manner; democracies can overcome far-reaching crises.

Reviews:

FAZ 25.10.2025

H-Soz-Kult, 24.11.2025

Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Studio 9, 22/12/2025(Podcast)(Pdf)

Research and Teaching, 12/2025 (Annotation)