Prophet of Decline: Spengler on World History and Politics

John Farrenkopf's _Prophet of Decline_ fills a gaping hole on a controversial historian. Farrenkopf effectively shows the greatness and magnitude of Spengler's thought while keeping a critical eye throughout the book. Farrenkopf's prose is crisp and fluid - certainly a complement to the rigidity and obtuseness that is typical of Spengler. Farrenkopf goes to great pains to not only dispel certain lingering myths about Spengler (specifically, that he was a Nazi sympathizer) but also to familiarize the reader with Spengler's influences (especially Ranke) and his more obscure works. As it is impossible to understand Spengler without a larger understanding of the historicism (and Goethe) that permeated his worldview at the time, this contribution is long overdue. Farrenkopf also devotes quite a bit of time to Spengler's obscure political phase. While certainly an authoritarian conservative, Spengler was certainly no Nazi - he viewed Hitler as a man more "of the people" than a "leader of the people." While Spengler did find court with the Nazi regime during its early years, it appears that it quickly lost interest in him. In fact, Hitler made a reference to "Decline of the West" in one of his speeches - stating unequivocally that he was opposed to the book's thesis! The book ends on a tragic note as the reader comes to terms with Spengler's "ultra-pessimistic" view of reality. There is no saving culture, Spengler says - we must all come to terms with the fact that our culture will extinguish itself, just as our own lives will eventually wither away. Coming to terms with the true implications of Spengler is not an easy task - especially when one considers that one of the few things Spengler got wrong was his glacial timeframe for predicting the demise of the West. However, foreknowledge of impending doom may lead to potential greatness: in the end of Spengler's _Man and Technics_, he implores us to heed the following words: "We are born into this time and must bravely follow the path to the destined end. There is no other way. Our duty is to hold on to the lost position, without hope, without rescue, like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is greatness. That is what it means to be a thoroughbred. The honourable end is the one thing that can not be taken from a man." In close, _Prophet of Decline_ is an excellent, timely, and long overdue contribution to the study of a man that may yet prove to be the West's greatest seer.