Super Short Summary

Rites of Spring by Modris Eksteins explores the cultural and ideological currents leading to and resulting from World War I, initiated by tensions between Germany's drive for innovation and the Anglo-French desire to maintain the old world order. Tying the war's brutality to the modernist upheaval epitomized by the 1913 ballet The Rite of Spring, Eksteins examines the impact on soldiers' morale, the lasting disillusionment post-war, and the rise of extremist ideologies. The book includes discussion of wartime violence, trench warfare misery, and anti-Semitic sentiments.