<DIV><DIV><DIV>Drawing upon a wealth of journal writings and personal correspondence, Esther Leslie presents a uniquely intimate portrait of one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century, Walter Benjamin. She sets his life in the context of his middle-class upbringing; explores the social, political, and economic upheaval in Germany during and after World War I; and recounts Benjamin's eccentric love of toys, trick-books, travel, and ships. From the Frankfurt School and his influential friendships with Theodore Adorno, Gershom Scholem, and Bertolt Brecht, to his travels across Europe, <I>Walter Benjamin</I> traces out the roots of Benjamin's groundbreaking writings and their far-reaching impact in his own time. Leslie argues that Benjamin's life challenges the stereotypical narrative of the tragic and lonely intellectual figure—instead positioning him as a man who relished the fierce combat of competing theories and ideas.</DIV><DIV><BR>Closing with his death at the Spanish-French border in a desperate flight from the Nazis and Stalin, <I>Walter Benjamin</I> is a concise and concentrated account of a capacious intellect trapped by hostile circumstances.</DIV></DIV></DIV>