Summary of the story in When Human Stars Shine, the more detailed the better

Introduction

1. Seek refuge in the immortal cause (immortal fugitive): On September 25, 1513, the adventurous Spanish Balboa arrived with the ship When he went to South America to explore and seek wealth, he not only squeezed out the owners of the entire team, but also drove away the newly sent governor. However, the owner of the fleet that he had driven away returned to Spain and reported his bad behavior to the Spanish court.

In order to avoid punishment from the Spanish court, he decided to take the lead in searching for the wealth of the South American continent to protect his own safety. During the arduous journey, he became the first civilization to see the Pacific Ocean. Human beings in the world, and he knew that there was infinite gold in a country not far away. At this time, his friend Pizarro betrayed him in order to seize the credit, and together with the new governor sent by the king, he assassinated him.

2. The Fall of Byzantium: On May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Turkish Empire captured the last fortress of the Eastern Roman Empire: Constantinople. After several fierce battles, no results were achieved. At that time, the genius emperor came up with a thrilling chess move to transport warships from land to a corner of the sea where Byzantium's defense was weak. In the end, due to the discovery of a small gate that Byzantium had neglected - Kelkamen, the Ottoman Empire destroyed Byzantium. The essence of human civilization.

3. Handel's Resurrection: On August 21, 1741, Handel, a composer who had exhausted his talent and was in despair, suddenly found inspiration in a poem and wrote the immortal work "Messiah!" ", and he himself was redeemed.

4. One-night genius: On April 25, 1792, the young Captain Rouge was invited by the mayor of Strasbourg to compose a war song for the Rhine Army. In the early morning of April 26, "Marseille" Song" was born. As soon as this song was released, it immediately spread throughout the streets and alleys across the country, inspiring soldiers to fight and win. However, the author of this song, Rouge, is unknown and lived in poverty all his life. He only became a genius for one night.

5. One Minute of Waterloo: On June 18, 1815, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo because of the cowardly and mediocre deputy general Grouchy who insisted on his orders.

6. Marienbad Elegy: On September 5, 1823, on his way home from Marienbad, Goethe could not restrain his longing for a girl there, and he was overcome with grief. , wrote the most famous love poem in his later years: "Marien Bader's Elegy". From then on, Goethe learned from the pain and entered another creative climax, writing great works such as "Faust".

7. The discovery of El Dorado: In January 1848, John August Suter discovered gold mixed in the sand in his territory, now California, which set off the The “gold rush” that lasted four years swept the world. People no longer worked but worked hard to dig for gold. Countless gold diggers came from all over the world. They occupied the property and land belonging to Suter, and eventually destroyed Suter's family.

8. Magnificent moment: The famous Russian writer Dostoevsky was arrested and executed for participating in reactionary political activities. On the occasion of his execution, the arrival of an official document changed the fate of death. , the death penalty was no longer imposed, and the sentence was changed to serving as a soldier. Dostoevsky's survival through hardships and his subsequent military career gave him rich writing materials, which was a turning point in his life's creation and thinking.

9. A call across the ocean: On July 28, 1858, American industrialist Cyrus West Field determined to lay a submarine telegraph cable connecting Eurasia and was ready. After the first laying failed, the determined Field finally succeeded in the third laying. Everyone regarded Field as a hero. But the good times did not last long, and the cable failure caused angry people to attack him in turn. Six years later, Field, still determined, tried again and finally succeeded.

10. Escape to God: The continuation of Leo Tolstoy's unfinished play "Light in the Dark".

11. Closed train: On April 9, 1917, Lenin boarded the train from Switzerland to Germany and returned to Russia. This closed train was like a cannonball, sending the revolutionary mentor away. He returned to his motherland and defeated an empire.

12. The Battle for Antarctica: The Norwegian Amundsen and the British Scott each led an expedition team and competed fiercely to become the first people in the world to reach the South Pole. But the Norwegian Amundsen's team had arrived before them a month before them. The disappointed Scott and four others died on the way back. In the notebook he left behind, he recorded Scott's pride and love for the country. Thoughts of the family.

13. Cicero: The last four years of ancient Rome’s life.

14. Wilson’s dream and failure: U.S. President Wilson dreamed of ensuring permanent peace for mankind, but failed miserably.

Extended information

Preface

No artist can devote 24 hours a day to artistic creation. All those who have unique characteristics and strong vitality The flash of inspiration often exists in that rare and short-lived moment of spark of inspiration. The same is true for history, which is praised by the world as the greatest poet and dramatist of all time. It is impossible to continuously create new things.

Although Goethe once called history with great respect "God's mysterious workshop". But what happens in this workshop are too many countless and trivial things that we turn a blind eye to. Like everything else in art and life, those shocking moments are rare.

There is often only one chronicler in this workshop, who indifferently and persistently regards each fact as beads connected into a long chain that lasts for thousands of years, because those Sharp moments in history take too long to brew, and every far-reaching event requires a development process.

In order to produce a genius in a nation, millions of people are always needed. Before a moment of truly world-historical significance—a moment when human stars shine—appears, it will inevitably be accompanied by a long period of meaningless passage.

However, just like once a genius appears in art, it will affect the cultural history for hundreds of years. Once this moment of world historical significance occurs, it will determine the course of history for decades or even hundreds of years. Just like the tip of a lightning rod concentrating the current of the entire atmosphere, countless events will be squeezed into this shortest time.

These events that usually happened leisurely in sequence or in parallel were all compressed into this lightning-fast moment. This moment can decide everything: the life and death of an individual, the survival of a nation, and even the fate of the entire human race.

This is a very dramatic and life-or-death moment. It often happens on a certain day, a certain hour, or even just a certain minute. Although it is rare in an individual's life and in the course of history. But their decisive influence transcends time. Here. I will look back at a certain moment in time when the stars shined - so called - from different eras and fields.

It is because they are like stars that will always scatter light and illuminate the temporary dark night of history. I do not add to or take away from the inner truth of what happened through my own fictions, because history, the true poet and dramatist, has represented those moments perfectly. No outside help is needed, and the great history is superior to all writers, and no one can surpass him.

Stefan Zweig

Baidu Encyclopedia - When Human Stars Shine