Karl Kraus

The Last Days of Mankind is a satirical play by Karl Kraus. It is considered one of the most important Kraus works. One third of the play is drawn from documentary sources and are highly realistic, except the final scenes which are of expressionist genre.

"An aphorism never coincides with the truth: it is either a half-truth or one-and-a-half truths," wrote Kraus. The aphorism was "a sub-genre [Kraus] considered the height of linguistic integrity. . . . With the help of notes and introductions by Zohn, the subtlety and archness of Kraus' linguistic gifts shine …