The German Genius

put itself together again and, in 1989, recreated most of the Wilhelmine state without plunging Europe into war or even breaking sweat. Watson has not simply written a survey of the German intellect from Goethe to Botho Strauss -- nothing so dilettantist. In the course of nearly 1,000 pages, he covers German idealism, porcelain, the symphony, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, telegraphy, homeopathy, strategy, Sanskrit, colour theory, the Nazarenes, universities, Hegel, jurisprudence, the conservation of energy, the Biedermeyer, entropy, fractals, dyestuffs, the PhD, heroin, automobiles, the unconscious, the cannon, the Altar of Pergamon, sociology, militarism, the waltz, anti-semitism, continental drift, quantum theory and serial music.' James Buchan, Guardian 9/10 'The outstanding quality of this book is that it places scientific discoveries at the core of cultural history, linking them with dramatic technical and industrial developments...Watson's account of the 'rise' assembles such a wealth of information, based on an impressive range of sources, that The German Genius will be an essential work of reference for years to come' Independent 15/10 'Like successive German ambassadors to the UK, Peter Watson has noticed that British perceptions of Germany are dominated almost exclusively by the Third Reich, the Second World War and the Holocaust... The era during which Germany led the world in philosophy, music, science, historical research, and, arguably, several branches of literature, was ended abruptly by Hitler, who sent most of Germany's lead minds into exile and thus hugely enriched the intellectual life of the Anglo-American countries... here we have an encyclopaedic survey in which every famous German artist or thinker, and many who should be more famous than they are, finds a place' Ritchie Robertson, TLS 1/10 'The reason Peter Watson gives for writing this long intellectual history of Germany since 1750 is a convincing one; that British obsession with Nazism has blinded many British people to the achievements of German culture... An introduction to other German history is welcome' Alexander Starritt, The Spectator 16/10