Curtis Cate

Offers incisive portraits on the indecisive Tsar Alexander I and the brilliant but vain napoleon, their calamitous confrontation, the dissolution of the great French army.

The Duel Between Napoleon and Alexander -- Russia, 1812

The War of the Two Emperors

No modern philosopher has been more maligned and misunderstood or more cynically exploited than Friedrich Nietzsche. Many of his aphorisms, highly personal statements of his likes and dislikes, are puzzling. They become truly comprehensible only within the context of his restless life. This biography reveals this context.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Discusses the building of the wall between East and West Berlin in 1961, examines the reasons the wall was built and the consequences of that action.

The Berlin Wall Crisis--1961

The Ides of August

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: His Life and Times

“An accessible, anecdotally rich” biography of the profoundly influential 19th century philosopher, author of Beyond Good and Evil and The Will to Power (Kirkus Reviews). Friedrich Nietzsche was the most fearlessly provocative and original thinker in Western history. The protean diversity of his writings make him one of the most influential of modern philosophers, yet his often paradoxical statements can be properly understood only within the context of his restless, tragic life. Physically handicapped by weak eyesight, violent headaches and bouts of nausea, this Nietzsche made short shrift of self-pity and ostentatious displays of compassion. The son of a Lutheran clergyman, whom he adored, he became a fearless agnostic who proclaimed, in Thus Spake Zarathustra that “God is dead!” Curtis Cate’s refreshingly accessible new biography brilliantly distills and clarifies Nietzsche’s ideas and the reactions they elicited. This book explores the musical and philosophical influences that inspired his thought, the subtle workings of his creative process, and the acute physical suffering he combated from his adolescence until his final mental collapse of January 1889. Cutting through the academic jargon and clearing away the prejudices that have become associated with Nietzsche’s name, Cate reveals a man whose ideas continue to have prophetic relevance and incredible vibrancy today.

Explores the French author's need to live life heroically, championing such causes as the French Communist Party, aiding the French Resistance, and serving in the Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War

A Biography

André Malraux

The life and times of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of the Le Petit Prince. Saint-Exupery was also an air pilot both in times of peace and war.

His Life and Times

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A critical biography of the controversial and prolific nineteenth-century French writer, relating the drama and variety of her novels, plays, and essays to the drama and variety of her life and relationships.

George Sand

Phillip Dennis Cate

Bibliothèque nationale (France)

Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum

Professor Phillip Dennis Cate

Marianne Grivel

By depicting life in the streets, cabarets and cafes of Paris, these artists fully exploited the creative possibilities of the color etching technique, producing subtly colored prints that were charged with atmosphere.

Color Etching in France : Works from the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Zimmerli Art Museum

From Pissarro to Picasso

No modern philosopher has been more maligned and misunderstood or more cynically exploited than Friedrich Nietzsche. Physically handicapped by weak eyesight, violent headaches and bouts of nausea, this paradoxical thinker fashioned a philosophy, which made short shrift of self-pity and the ostentatious display of compassion. The son of a Lutheran clergyman, whom he adored, he became a fearless agnostic who proclaimed, in Thus Spake Zarathustra that 'God is dead!' Of modest bourgeois origins, he detested middle-class conformity, and turned to an uncompromising cult of 'aristocratic radicalism'. Nietzsche was the first major philosopher to place psychology, rather than mathematics, logic, physics, or history, at the very centre of his thinking. The wealth and diversity of Nietzsche's aphorisms and brief essays - close to 2,700 - make him the most seminal and provocative thinker of modern times. Many of his aphorisms, highly personal statements of his likes and dislikes, are puzzling. They become truly comprehensible only within the context of his restless life, revealed in this enthralling biography.

Curtis Cate

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