Max Nordau "Degeneration. Modern French."

The name Max Nordau (1849-1923) was popular in the West and in Russia at the end of the last century. In his main work, “Degeneration,” he, a doctor by training, a student of C. Lombroso, made an original attempt to interpret the “decline of Europe.” Nordau placed responsibility for the era of decadence on the idols of his time - F. Nietzsche, L. Tolstoy, P. Verlaine, O. Wilde, the Pre-Raphaelites and others, giving their work a paradoxical characteristic. And, although his concept was subjected to harsh criticism, at some points his vision of civilization turned out to be quite accurate. The book also includes essays “Modern French”, where the reader will be introduced to a gallery of literary portraits, in particular of Balzac, Michelet, Maupassant and other writers. These works are published in Russian for the first time after a gap of almost a century.