Men in
Dark Times is a collection of essays which stands as a testament to great men, and sometimes women, of times of strife and hardship throughout history. It was written by Hannah Arendt over a 15-year period in various publications and collectively portray political and cultural individuals during the tumultuous years from pre-World War I through the end of the second. As a talented and thoughtful biographer, Arendt instills in the
reader not only a sense of the tragedy of those “dark times,” but the philosophical and spiritual light which shines through these remarkable personages.
Her
portrait of Pope John XXIII is clearly the centerpiece of this
volume. Especially as seen through her eyes, he was a man of simple faith and great wisdom. Other subjects of her essays, individuals whose names might have otherwise slip into the vast unwritten history, such as Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Jaspers, Isak Dinesen, Walter Benjamin, and Bertolt Brecht, were people who she knew and admired for their personal stories of courage and perseverance at a time of worldwide
problems.
The volume is neatly tied together by her opening essay entitled, “On Humanity in Dark Times: Thoughts about Lessing.” She uses the views and thoughts of this 18th century philosopher to discuss the ways civic friendship help to cement society in difficult times in each portrait. The reader can reflect on our current era in light of these biographies and by the very
nature of how each individual must learn and grow through the author’s wonderful style of writing. She provides the reader with a great insight into the nature of greatness, not fame, and the problems inherent in any time of social and political upheaval. There is much to learn here from the past and the role each one of us plays in the present.
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