The German Genius: Europe's Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution, and the Twentieth Century - Softcover

Watson, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060760230 ISBN 13: 9780060760236

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2011

Synopsis

The German Genius is a virtuoso cultural history of German ideas and influence, from 1750 to the present day, by acclaimed historian Peter Watson (Making of the Modern Mind, Ideas). From Bach, Goethe, and Schopenhauer to Nietzsche, Freud, and Einstein, from the arts and humanities to science and philosophy, The German Genius is a lively and accessible review of over 250 years of German intellectual history. In the process, it explains the devastating effects of World War II, which transformed a vibrant and brilliantly artistic culture into a vehicle of warfare and destruction, and it shows how the German culture advanced in the war's aftermath.

About this title

Review:

"A compilation of essential German contributions to philosophy, theology, mathematics, natural and social science and the arts since 1750. Watson enshrines a vast pantheon of creative thinkers... [including] compressed summaries of some exceedingly difficult ideas. The range of subjects is impressive, from painters to physicists."--New York Times Book Review

"["The German Genius" is] Watson's eight-hundred-and-fifty-page love letter to the all-stars of the Teutonic intellect...his ?lan generates its own momentum... The book's breadth is part of the point."--The New Yorker

"[A] colossal encyclopaedia. . . . Heroic. . . . Watson derives the German genius from deep springs."--The Guardian

"Reveals several surprises. . . . A remarkable book on many levels. The research is first-rate and it is surprisingly accessible."--Tucson Citizen

"Few wasted words--a welcome resource for students of modern history, literature and cultural studies."--Kirkus Reviews

"Watson's book is intended to subvert the negative German stereotypes. Though it checks in at just short of 1,000 pages, it is a usefully concise introduction to the principal themes and personalities of German scientific, philosophical, social, literary and artistic culture since 1750."--The Times (London)

"A powerful and vivid opus. . . . Watson's story is brimming with life. You can barely put the book aside."--Berliner Zeitung.

"A joy, for its ambition, its seriousness and its moral integrity."--The Scotsman

"Few wasted words-a welcome resource for students of modern history, literature and cultural studies."--Kirkus Reviews

"Watson's story is vibrating with life. It is unputdownable. It contains a lot one didn't know. So much enlightenment and so much that moves."--Frankfurter Rundschau

From the Back Cover:

From the end of the Baroque era and the death of Bach to the rise of Hitler, Germany was transformed from a poor relation among Western nations into a dominant intellectual and cultural force. By 1933, Germans had won more Nobel Prizes than the British and Americans combined. Yet this remarkable genius was cut down in its prime by Adolf Hitler and his disastrous Third Reich--a brutal legacy that has overshadowed the nation's achievements ever since.

In this absorbing cultural and intellectual history, Peter Watson goes back through time to explore the origins of the German genius, explaining how and why it flourished, how it shaped our lives, and, most important, how it continues to influence our world. Watson's virtuoso sweep through modern German thought and culture will challenge and confound both the stereotypes the world has of Germany and those that Germany has of itself.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0060760230
• ISBN 13: 9780060760236
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 992