'At times,' writes Golo Mann, 'the Germans seem a philosophical people, at others the most practical and most materialistic at times the most peaceful, at others the most domineering and brutal. Time after time they have surprised the world by things least expected of them.' It is this quality of paradox, even of mystery, in the German nation that the distinguished historian renders with such subtlety and penetration in this celebrated study.

It traces the whole sweep of intellectual development in Germany since the French Revolution. As well as chronicling historic events, the book deals in detail with the contributions of philosophers, poets and novelists alongside those of parliamentarians and generals.