This is a chronicle of the last year of peace before World War I, a time when many events would become landmarks in 20th-century culture. In 1913, Proust's novel 'Swann's Way' was published, Spengler began work on 'The Decline of the West,' Stravinsky's scandalous Parisian premiere of 'The Rite of Spring' and a concert of Schoenberg's twelve-tone music took place, the first version of Malevich's 'Black Square' was written, the first Prada boutique opened, Louis Armstrong picked up the trumpet, Stalin illegally entered Vienna, and Hitler, conversely, left. The author, a German critic and essayist who, during the last crisis, shifted his work from a newspaper to an auction house and his interests from the most pressing issues to old art, has created a captivating panorama of the vibrant cultural life of the era of modernism's birth. The press called the book a “massive teaser” for the 20th century and the most vivid reminder of how what was taken for granted turned out to be fragile, even defenseless.