Nothing is said of Zweig's first wife; his second marriage is briefly touched upon. The tragic effects of contemporary antisemitism are discussed but Zweig does not analyse in detail his Jewish identity. Zweig's friendship with Sigmund Freud is described towards the end, particularly while both of them lived in London during the last year of Freud's life. The book finishes with the news of the start of World War II, while he was waiting for some travel documents at a counter of Bath’s General Register Office. "When I attempt to find a simple formula for the period in which I grew up, prior to the First World War, I hope that I convey its fullness by calling it the Golden Age of Security."