Philipp Scheidemann's memories are an important testament to a time marked by significant upheaval and illustrate the emergence and failure of Weimar in all its drama and tragedy. They depict the life of a social democrat who, with character and rhetorical skill, fights for his ideals and remains, alongside Ebert, Erzberger, and Stresemann, perhaps the embodiment of the Weimar Republic throughout his life. The first volume outlines the beginnings of Scheidemann's political career, his powerlessness in the face of the impending outbreak of war, and his growing role as a target of German nationalist hatred from enemies of the Republic, both from the right and the left. Scheidemann vividly yet unobtrusively recounts the fateful days of the Weimar Republic, which are closely linked to his own political failure, showing that the scope for action was too narrow to escape the incomprehensibility of the events.