Genius, Power and Magic: A Cultural History of Germany from Goethe to Wagner

Before unification in 1871, Germany was a loose collection of variously sovereign principalities, nurtured on deep thought, fine music and hard rye bread, somewhat lacking in cultural cohesion. Yet between the end of the Thirty Years War and unification under Bismarck, Germany became the land of philosophers and poets, writers and composers. Roderick Cavaliero provides a fascinating overview of Germany's cultural zenith and its artistic exports – including the literature of Goethe and Grimm, the music of Wagner, Schumann and Mendelssohn and the philosophy of Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Schiller and Kant. Providing a comprehensive and highly-readable account of Germany from Frederick the Great to Bismarck, Genius, Power and Magic is fascinating reading for anyone interested in European history and the extraordinary cultural legacy of this golden age.