Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche & Kafka

HowfourofEurope’smostmysteriousandfascinatingwritersshapedthemodernmind.Dostoevsky,Kierkegaard,Nietzsche,andKafkawerealloutsidersintheirsocieties,unabletofitintotheacceptednineteenth-centurycategoriesoftheology,philosophy,orbelleslettres.Instead,theysawthemselvesbothastheendproductsofadyingcivilizationandasprophetsofthecomingchaosofthetwentiethcentury.Inthisbrilliantcombinationofbiographyandlucidexposition,theirapocalypticvisionsofthefuturearewoventogetherintoaprovocativeportraitofmodernity.“Thissmallbookhasadepthofinsightandacomprehensivenessoftreatmentbeyondwhatitsmodestyofsizeandtoneindicates.WilliamHubben…seesthespiritualdestinyofEuropeasoneoftranscendingthesemasters.Buttobetranscended,theirmessagemustfirstbeabsorbed,andthatiswhythestudyofthemissoimportanttousnow.”—WilliamBarrett,TheNewYorkTimes,