The Red Count: The Life and Times of Harry Kessler / Edition 1

Paperback (Print)
Used and New from Other Sellers
Used and New from Other Sellers
from $24.95
Usually ships in 1-2 business days
(Save 28%)
Other sellers (Paperback)
  • All (14) from $24.95   
  • New (8) from $27.31   
  • Used (6) from $24.95   

More About This Textbook

Overview

The life of Count Harry Kessler (1868-1937), the famous Anglo-German art patron, writer, and activist, offers a vivid and engrossing perspective on the tumultuous transformation of art and politics that took place in modern Europe between 1890 and 1930. In the first half of his career Kessler was one of the most ardent and well-known champions of aesthetic modernism in Imperial Germany, becoming a friend and patron to pioneering artists and writers of his day, most notably French sculptor Aristide Maillol, Belgian architect Henry van de Velde, English theater designer Gordon Craig, and Austrian poet and playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal and, in his capacity as director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Weimar and vice-president of the German Artists League, served as a spokesman and lightning rod for embattled modern art. In the aftermath of the First World War, in which he served as a soldier, propagandist, and secret agent, Kessler embarked on a public career as a committed internationalist and pacifist, a stance that led ultimately to his exile from Germany upon the Nazi seizure of power. Making use of the recently discovered portions of Kessler's extensive diaries, one of the most remarkable journals ever written, Laird Easton explains the reasons for this startling metamorphosis, showing for the first time the continuities between Kessler's prewar aestheticism and his postwar politics and highlighting his importance within the larger history of the rise of modern art and politics. This lively narrative, the first English-language biography of Harry Kessler, provides a rich and fascinating portrait of the man whom W. H. Auden called "a crown witness of our times."
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Economist
W.H. Auden called him probably the most cosmopolitan man who ever lived. Aesthete, patron, diplomat, diarist, peace campaigner, defender of the Weimar republic and exile from Nazism, this ultra-sophisticated German count belongs to a type that probably no longer exists: a moneyed and cultivated amateur whose brains and background brought him effortless access to politics, society and intellectual life in any capital where he set foot. In the first full biography in English, Laird Easton describes Kessler's life in detail and well.
New York Times Book Review
Easton deftly fills in the rich cultural context of Kessler's many realms.
Harper's
Count Harry Kessler, German diplomat, aesthete, patron of the arts, publisher, biographer, diarist, librettist, collector of art and books, army officer, and museum director, was, in W.H. Auden's opinion, 'probably the most cosmopolitan man who ever lived.' His life seems to have been written by Thomas Mann, whose fate in many ways ran parallel. Easton's (The Red Count can be enjoyed as both cultural history and ironic tragedy.
Times Literary Supplement
From Laird M. Easton's Life of Kessler, told in an exemplary fashion, there is much to learn about what went wrong at such a crucial period of German history. And about the danger inherent in a belief in the improving power of culture.
New York Review of Books
[A] thoughtful, well-researched, and fascinating biography of Kessler's life that is also a contribution to the history of fin de siècle avant-garde art.
Economist UK
Laird Easton's illuminating biography is especially strong on Kessler's family and early childhood, and strips away many of the cliches about the Weimar years.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780520248175
  • Publisher: University of California Press
  • Publication date: 1/25/2006
  • Series: Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism Series
  • Edition description: New Edition
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 534
  • Product dimensions: 5.75 (w) x 8.75 (h) x 1.25 (d)

Meet the Author

Laird M. Easton is Associate Professor of History at California State University, Chico.
Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction: Art and Politics in Modern Germany

I. Family and Education II. Apprenticeship III. The Third Weimar IV. The Fever Curve V. War's Purifying Fire VI. The Red Count VII. The Path Downward

Conclusion: A World Forever Lost?
Notes Bibliography Index

Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)