This remarkable history tells the story of the independent city-republic
of Basel in the nineteenth century, and of four major thinkers who
shaped its intellectual history: the historian Jacob Burckhardt, the
philologist and anthropologist Johann Jacob Bachofen, the theologian
Franz Overbeck, and the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
Remarkable and exceptionally readable . . . There is wit, wisdom and an
immense erudition on every page.--Jonathan Steinberg, Times Literary
Supplement
Gossman's book, a product of many years of active contemplation, is a
tour de force. It is at once an intellectual history, a cultural history
of Basel and Europe, and an important contribution to the study of
nineteenth-century historiography. Written with a grace and elegance
that many aspire to, few seldom achieve, this is model
scholarship.--John R. Hinde, American Historical Review