<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Theses on the Philosophy of History (also On the Concept of History, from German: Über den Begriff der Geschichte) is an essay written in early 1940 by German philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin . It is one of Benjamin's best - known, and most controversial works . </P> <P> Composed of twenty numbered paragraphs, Benjamin wrote the brief essay shortly before attempting to escape from Vichy France, where French collaborationist government officials were handing over Jewish refugees like Benjamin to the Nazi Gestapo . Theses is the last major work Benjamin completed before fleeing to Spain where, fearing Nazi capture, he committed suicide in September 1940 . </P> <P> In the essay, Benjamin uses poetic and scientific analogies to present a critique of historicism . </P>

Walter benjamin on the concept of history summary