The book could have reached a thoroughly disenchanted conclusion, yet it also sheds light on paths forward. Its author was particularly fond of the utopian novel Le Jeu des perles de verre by Hermann Hesse (Fretz und Wasmuth Verlag AG, 1943). In it, we find the monk Jacobus saying: "Studying history means surrendering to chaos while keeping faith in order and in the spirit. It is a very serious task, young man, and perhaps a tragic one."