Magnificent Rebels

The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self

By: Andrea Wulf

Narrated by: Julie Teal

A NEW YORKER ESSENTIAL READ • From the best-selling author of The Invention of Nature comes an exhilarating story about a remarkable group of young rebels—poets, novelists, philosophers—who, through their epic quarrels, passionate love stories, heartbreaking grief, and radical ideas launched Romanticism onto the world stage, inspiring some of the greatest thinkers of the time.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times • The Washington Post

"Make[s] the reader feel as if they were in the room with the great personalities of the age, bearing witness to their insights and their vanities and rages.” —Lauren Groff, best-selling author of Matrix

When did we begin to be as self-centered as we are today? At what point did we expect to have the right to determine our own lives? When did we first ask the question, How can I be free?

It all began in a quiet university town in Germany in the 1790s, when a group of playwrights, poets, and writers put the self at center stage in their thinking, their writing, and their lives. This brilliant circle included the famous poets Goethe, Schiller, and Novalis; the visionary philosophers Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel; the contentious Schlegel brothers; and, in a wonderful cameo, Alexander von Humboldt. And at the heart of this group was the formidable Caroline Schlegel, who sparked their dazzling conversations about the self, nature, identity, and freedom.

The French revolutionaries may have changed the political landscape of Europe, but the young Romantics incited a revolution of the mind that transformed our world forever. We are still empowered by their daring leap into the self, and by their radical notions of the creative potential of the individual, the highest aspirations of art and science, the unity of nature, and the true meaning of freedom. We also still walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfillment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our responsibilities toward our community and future generations. At the heart of this inspiring book is the extremely modern tension between the dangers of selfishness and the thrilling possibilities of free will.

Fascinating!

Loved the book! It is extremely well written and narrated, and the subject is fascinating. I liked this book as much as “The invention of Nature”, also by Andrea Wulf.

Remarkable book

A new history of why Germany was 'the land of the poets and thinkers,' and the profound influence a group of these poets and thinkers in the late 18th century have had on us today. They gave us the concept of the importance of the self and the modern idea of humanity being part of and responsible for the natural world - not its 'conqueror.' But these poets and thinkers are also all too human. Very lively, very well written. Narration is also excellent.

Please hire this narrator more

The book itself is very good and fascinating. The reader is amazing and I strongly wish they’d ask her to do more titles on here

Finest Narration I’ve Heard

I really enjoyed this reading. The narrator has a lovely voice and the writing is so intimate you’d think you were there and these famous people were your friends. Highly recommended!

fascinating overall, too much drama

I would have preferred more focus on the content of the works and theory and less of the often tedious minute-by-minute reconstruction of fraught interpersonal relations. For example, reader is left with the clear sense that Freidrich Schlegel was an egocentric ass, without a clear sense of his artistic and philosophical contributions. Also? heavy emphasis on positive impact of German Romanticism on European and American culture without any discussion of its influence on German Nationalism. Still, well worth a listen.