Decisive Moments in History


Decisive Moments in History is a 1927 history book by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It started off with only five miniatures in its first edition and grew to a collection of 14 with later editions. Its first English translation was published in 1940 as The Tide of Fortune: Twelve Historical Miniatures. The miniatures relate historical events that changed the world.

Contents

  1. Die Weltminute von Waterloo Napoleon's defeat at the battle of Waterloo.
  2. Die Marienbader Elegie. Johann Wolfgang Goethe writes the Marienbad Elegy.
  3. Die Entdeckung Eldorados. An employee of John Sutter discovers gold in Nueva Helvecia, starting the California Gold Rush.
  4. Heroischer Augenblick. The mock execution of Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
  5. Der Kampf um den Südpol. Robert Scott and his expedition reach the South Pole to find that Roald Amundsen's team arrived first.
  6. Flucht in die Unsterblichkeit. Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches the Pacific Ocean.
  7. Die Eroberung von Byzanz. Constantinople, the last stronghold of the Byzantine empire falls to the Ottomans.
  8. Georg Friedrich Händels Auferstehung. Georg Friedrich Händel recovers and writes The Messiah.
  9. Das Genie einer Nacht. Rouget de Lisle writes La Marsellaise.
  10. Das erste Wort über den Ozean. Cyrus W. Field establishes the first Trans-Oceanic cable.
  11. Die Flucht zu Gott. An additional act to Leo Tolstoy's The Light Shines in the Darkness.
  12. Der versiegelte Zug. Vladimir Ilich Lenin boards a train commissioned by the Central Powers to start the Russian Revolution.
  13. Cicero
  14. Wilson versagt
Only the first five miniatures were included in the first edition of the book. The second edition of 1940 added those listed above as numbers 6 through to 12. The last two were added to later German editions but were already part of the first English edition published under the title "The Tide of Fortune: Twelve Historical Miniatures".