author
Oswald Spengler
1880–1936
A bold and controversial thinker, Oswald Spengler challenged the idea of endless progress with his sweeping theory that civilizations rise, mature, and decline. His landmark work, The Decline of the West, made him one of the most provocative voices in twentieth-century philosophy of history.
4 Audiobooks
The decline of the West, Volume 1 : Form and actuality
by Oswald Spengler
The decline of the West, Volume 2 : Perspectives of world-history
by Oswald Spengler
Der Untergang des Abendlandes, Erster Band
by Oswald Spengler
Der Untergang des Abendlandes, Zweiter Band
by Oswald Spengler
About the author
Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880–8 May 1936) was a German historian and philosopher of history whose interests also included mathematics, science, and art. Born in Blankenburg, Germany, he developed an organic, cyclical view of world history rather than seeing it as a straightforward story of progress.
His major work, The Decline of the West (Der Untergang des Abendlandes), was published in two volumes in 1918 and 1922. The book argued that great cultures behave like living organisms, passing through recognizable stages of growth, maturity, and decline, and it established Spengler as a major—if deeply controversial—cultural critic of the modern era.