Justus Mser and the German Enlightenment

Justus Mser was a pivotal figure in the age of the German Enlightenment. Administrator, journalist, historian, man of letters, Mser is renowned as one of Germany's finest prose stylists and as one of its most articulate political writers. Known through his political writings for his commitment to conservative reform, he is often called the Edmund Burke of Germany and the father of German conservatism. He is also celebrated for his pioneering Osnabrck History, the first modern social and economic history and a forerunner to Ranke, Marx, and the German historical revolution of the nineteenth century. This work is the first extensive biography of Mser to place him within his society and the world of the German Enlightenment. Using Mser's published and unpublished writings, his letters, essays, and histories, the author has written a total history of Mser's world through Mser's eyes.