Bøker i Critical Lives-serien

The most radical and divisive composer of the twentieth century, Arnold Schoenberg remains a hero to many, and a villain to many others. In this refreshingly balanced biography, Mark Berry tells the story of Schoenberg's remarkable life and work, situating his tale within the wider symphony of nineteenth- and twentieth-century history. Born in the Jewish quarter of his beloved Vienna, Schoenberg left Austria for his early career in Berlin as a leading light of Weimar culture, before being forced to flee in the dead of night from Hitler's Third Reich. He found himself in the United States, settling in Los Angeles, where he would inspire composers from George Gershwin to John Cage. Introducing all of Schoenberg's major musical works, from his very first compositions, such as the String Quartet in D Major, to his invention of the twelve-tone method, Berry explores how Schoenberg's revolutionary approach to musical composition incorporated Wagnerian late Romanticism and the brave new worlds of atonality and serialism. Essential reading for anyone interested in the music and history of the twentieth century, this book makes clear Schoenberg changed the history of music forever.

Victor Hugo (1802-85) is an icon of French culture. He achieved immense success as a poet, dramatist, and novelist, and he was also elected to both houses of the French Parliament. Leading the Romantic campaign against artistic tradition and defying the Second Empire in exile, he became synonymous with the progressive ideals of the French Revolution. His state funeral in Paris made headlines across the world, and his breadth of appeal remains evident today, not least thanks to the popularity of his bestseller, Les Miserables, and its myriad theatrical and cinematic incarnations. This biography provides a comprehensive exploration of Hugo's monumental body of work within the context of his dramatic life. Hugo wrestled with family tragedy and personal misgivings while being pulled into the turmoil of the 19th century, from the fall of Napoleon's Empire to the rise of France's Third Republic.

A new, critical account of the life and work of influential French painter Paul Cezanne.

A new critical biography of Leon Trotsky, a strong leader of Soviets and one of the most important figures of twentieth-century Communism. This biography delves deep into Trotsky's life and relationships to reveal and understand his complex character and actions.

Kiff Bamford traces the circuitous journey of Jean-Francois Lyotard life and work, unravelling the thrust of Lyotard's main philosophical arguments, his struggle with thinking and his confrontation with the task of writing and thinking philosophy differently.

This is an absorbing account of the life and work of one of Russia's most inventive and exuberant novelists and playwrights.

Drawing extensively on Tchaikovsky's uncensored letters and diaries, this biography explores the composer's life in the artistic culture of nineteenth-century Russian society, revealing how he became a figure of international renown.

A new critical biography of Joseph Beuys, arguably the most important and controversial German artist of the late twentieth century.

In this new critical biography Frida Beckman traces Gilles Deleuze's remarkable intellectual journey, mapping the encounters from which his life and work emerged.

A new, critical biography of enigmatic French theorist, writer, actor and artist Antonin Artaud examining Artaud's work in relation to his life, as well as the many influential figures he came into contact with.

One of France's most high-profile writers and a Nobel Prize-winner, Albert Camus experienced both public adulation and acrimonious rejection during his career, which was cut short by a fatal car accident in 1960. Edward J. Hughes unravels the life of a complex personality whose work and stance were the subjects of intense interest and scrutiny.

Carl Jung is a clear and compelling critical assessment of one of the controversial and highly influential pioneers of psychology.

This is an illuminating new critical biography of Yves Klein, which will appeal to students and scholars alike interested in the fascinating life of the radical and iconoclastic twentieth-century French artist.

Published at the bicentennial of his birth, Raymond Furness's Richard Wagner provides a clear and balanced view of both Wagner's great successes and the controversies generated by his life and art.

Adam Watt's biography considers Proust's early years of personal and aesthetic experiment, the growth of his masterwork A la recherche du temps perdu and his personal decline due to ill-health.

Examines Bukowski's writings, colourful life and the desperate conditions of his lifestyle. This book explores the effect the writer's hybrid identity had on the themes and content of his work. It catalogues and dissects the many versions of Bukowski created by the writer and his followers.

In John Cage, Rob Haskins outlines how the controversial artist contributed to twentieth-century music, literature and art. Haskins considers John Cage's life, art, ideas and work, evaluating the twin pillars of Cage's creative output and the ideas that lie behind it.

Robert Bird traces Fyodor Dostoevsky's path from a political revolutionary to one who fought his battles through the printed word. The author describes how Dostoevsky's difficult background contributed to his highly acclaimed novels such as Crime and Punishment (1867) and The Brothers Karamazov.

This book is an engaging presentation of the life and work of the legendary French philosopher, political activist and mystic Simone Weil. Palle Yourgrau assesses Weil's controversial critique of Judaism, and her radical re-imagination of Christianity; and analyses how Weil's personal struggles influenced her mature philosophy.

Lars T. Lih gives a non-partisan,vivid portrait and a striking new interpretation of a key revolutionary thinker and founder of the Soviet Union, Lenin, and shows that underneath the sharp polemics, Lenin was more a romantic enthusiast than a sour pragmatist.

Marta Braun's new biography of Eadweard Muybridge traces the sensational events of Muybridge's life against his personal reinventions as artist, photographer, high-minded researcher and showman.

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) is an iconic figure of the Beat generation. In this revealing study Phil Baker investigates this cult writer's life and work, and his self-portrayal as an explorer of inner space, reporting back from the frontiers of experience.

Acknowledged as one of the major sculptors and avant-garde artists of the twentieth century, Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) also remained one of the most elusive. This book looks beyond the mythology of the artist to show us Constantin the Romanian student, as well as Brancusi the celebrated artist.

Guy Debord (1931-94) was one of the most important intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Filmmaker and poet, urban critic and political theorist, adventurer and activist extraordinaire during Paris' May 1968 uprisings, Debord was simultaneously behind and ahead of his times. This work focuses on the particulars of Debord's life.