Moriz Scheyer was born in 1886 in Romania. The family had moved to Vienna while Moriz was still attending school. He was in secondary school at the outbreak of World War I, and wrote about that and the aftermath of the war. He avoided service in that war, due to a health condition. Between the wars, he traveled all over the place, got married, and adopted two children. When the Nazi's began their rise to power, he lost his job as the arts editor for the Neues Wiener Tagblatt. He escaped to Paris, where he rode out the war. He had some really close calls, narrow escapes, and dramatic experiences that he outlined in this book. I found the book to be page turning at certain points, especially when I was concerned about how he made it through a situation. I cannot imagine living like this. It is so important that we have these historical accounts to really get a sense of what like was like almost 80 years ago.