intellectual life

A biography of Dostoevsky covering the six most productive years of his literary career, during which time he wrote Crime and punishment, The idiot, and The devils.

A biography of ancient Roman poet Virgil, examining his writings, as well as historical and archaeological evidence in an attempt to uncover the truth about his life.

Discusses aspects of Berlin's society from its founding in the thirteenth century to the present.

Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of eighteenth-century English writer and critic Samuel Johnson, discussing his formative years, his early efforts to succeed at writing, and his personal life and beliefs; and examining the work and struggles of his later years.

Biography of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, focusing on his visit to Turin in 1888, at which time he experienced his most productive period of writing, and discusses the last sane year of his life before his mental breakdown which damaged him permanently.

A study of twentieth-century Spanish culture and society, emphasizing recent and contemporary developments.

Discusses the vast migration of African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North.