Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life

Bertolt Brecht: A Life is a major literary biography of one of the iconic cultural figures of the twentieth century, whose achievements are viewed alongside Picasso's and Wagner's. Offering a fresh reassessment of the man and the artist, this is the first significant biography of Brecht to present a balanced account of his life.

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This first English language biography of Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) in two decades paints a strikingly new picture of one of the twentieth century’s most controversial cultural icons.

Drawing on letters, diaries and unpublished material, including Brecht’s medical records, Parker offers a rich and enthralling account of Brecht’s life and work, viewed through the prism of the artist. Tracing his extraordinary life, from his formative years in Augsburg, through the First World War, his politicisation during the Weimar Republic and his years of exile, up to the Berliner Ensemble’s dazzling productions in Paris and London, Parker shows how Brecht achieved his transformative effect upon world theatre and poetry.

Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life is a powerful portrait of a great, compulsively contradictory personality, whose artistry left its lasting imprint on modern culture.