An Economist Best Book of 2007, Jonathan Carr's The Wagner Clan
proves, with the sweeping scope of a Wagnerian opera, that the history
of Europe and that of the infamous composer's family are inextricably
intertwined. Carr presents not only Richard Wagner himself-- musician,
philosopher, philanderer, failed revolutionary, and virulent
anti-Semite--but also a colorful cast of historical figures who feature
in Wagner's story: Franz Liszt (whose illegitimate daughter Cosima
married Wagner); Friedrich Nietzsche; Arthur Schopenhauer; Richard
Strauss; Gustav Mahler; Arturo Toscanini; Joseph Goebbels; Hermann
Göring; and the "Wolf " himself, Adolf Hitler, a passionate fan of the
Master's music and an adopted uncle to Wagner's grandchildren. Wagner's
British-born daughter-in-law, Winifred, was a close friend of Hitler's
and seemed momentarily positioned to marry him after the death of her
husband. All through the war the Bayreuth Festival, begun by the Master
himself, was supported by Hitler, who had to fill the audience with
fighting men and SS officers. After the war's devastation, the festival
was dark for a decade until Wagner's offspring--with characteristic
ambition and cunning-- revived it. The Wagner Clan is a riveting
chronicle of the ascent, decline, and rehabilitation of the German
nation and its most infamous family.
