Illuminations

A selection of works from one of the most original cultural critics of the twentieth century--as selected by Hannah Arendt and including a classic essay of her own about Walter Benjamin`s life and philosophy.¶ "There has been no more original, no more serious critic and reader in our time."--George Steiner ¶ An icon of criticism, Walter Benjamin was renowned for his insights on art, literature, and philosophy. This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and on Brecht`s epic theater. Illuminations includes two of Benjamin`s best-known, deeply enlightening essays, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and "Theses on the Philosophy of History," as well as Hannah Arendt`s own essay about her subject`s life as a German-born Jew during a dark era.