By Karl Kraus
‘When the age died by its own hand, that hand was Karl Kraus’s’
Bertolt Brecht
‘War is at first, the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that the other fellow isn’t any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone’s being worse off. ‘
This site contains an annotated translation of Karl Kraus’s extraordinary satirical drama of the First World War, ‘Die letzten Tage der Menschheit’, ‘The Last Days of Mankind’, by Michael Russell.
‘There is a new translation of The Last Days of Mankind… and I am happy to report that Michael Russell’s translation is excellent — certainly the best I’ve seen to date. I only wish it had been available when I began my own work on Kraus!’ (Professor Marjorie Perloff, University of Southern California, ‘Critical Inquiry’)
This is a work in progress. New material will be added regularly.
The Last Days of Mankind 