First published in Germany to popular and critical acclaim, this is a unique portrait of the life and work of Theodor Fontane, the great historical novelist, critic, poet, and travel writer of nineteenth-century Germany. Gordon A. Craig, one of our foremost scholars of German history, interpolates a cohesive historical biography of Fontane with his own reflections on the art, culture, and politics of Fontane's world.

The ideas and impressions of Fontane and Craig echo one another throughout the book in compelling and fascinating ways. Fontane's travel accounts of England and Scotland are enriched by Craig's discussion of Germany's increasingly national vision of itself and the world at the time of unification. Similarly, Craig's mastery of German military history dovetails remarkably well with Fontane's reportage on Germany's wars with Denmark, Austria, and France. Craig's expert commentary on German foreign policy and European politics likewise informs Fontane's personal correspondence with Otto von Bismarck. Readers are not likely to find a more intelligent summation of German--and especially Prussian--society at the twilight of the nineteenth century.