The Nazis' literary grandfather

From 1900 to his death in 1945, Adolf Bartels reigned as the most notorious anti-Semitic literary critic in Germany. Bartels all but single-handedly popularized the radical nationalist and racist view of culture central to Nazi ideology. During the Weimar Republic, Bartels helped transform the fledging Nationalist Socialist movement into the major force in German politics.

Throughout his life, representatives of every political persuasion - from Gerhart Hauptmann to Adolf Hitler - recognized his importance and influence even when they questioned his sanity. This biography of Adolf Bartels (1862-1945) not only serves as a centerpiece for detailing neatly a century of German literary, cultural, and political history, but also relates an engrossing personal narrative.