Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy-Fast Shipping

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“[A] fascinating and accessible account . . . In his entertaining book,Mr. Eilenberger shows that his magicians’ thoughts are still worthcollecting, even if, with hindsight, we can see that some performed toomany intellectual conjuring tricks.” —Wall Street Journal

A grand narrative of the intertwining lives of Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Ernst Cassirer, major philosophers whose ideas shaped the twentieth century

The year is 1919. The horror of the First World War is fresh for the protagonistsof Time of the Magicians, each of whom finds himself at a crucialjuncture. Benjamin is trying to flee his overbearing father and flounderingin his academic career, living hand to mouth as a critic. Wittgenstein,by contrast, has dramatically decided to divest himself of the monumentalfortune he stands to inherit, in search of spiritual clarity. Meanwhile,Heidegger, having managed to avoid combat in war by serving as ameteorologist, is carefully cultivating his career. Finally, Cassirer is workingfuriously on the margins of academia, applying himself to his writingand the possibility of a career at Hamburg University. The stage is set fora great intellectual drama, which will unfold across the next decade. Thelives and ideas of this extraordinary philosophical quartet will converge asthey become world historical figures. But as the Second World War loomson the horizon, their fates will be very different.