The Good European

Friedrich Nietzsche was acutely sensitive to place: to the taste of sea air, to the sweep of wind across the coast, to the narrow confines of medieval walls or the tumbling breadth of an Alpine vista framed by the window near his writing desk. He was convinced that the effects of the environment, climate and terrain on one's life and thought were both tangible and profound. This book explores, in text and photographs, Nietzsche's Epicurean appreciation of the cities and landscapes in which he worked and their influence on his thought. From Saxony to the Swiss Alps, from the Riviera to the Dolomites of Recoaro, the reader is guided, in word and image, through the course of Nietzsche's philosophical thought and his continental wanderings, along the painful path from genius to madness. Translations of the philosopher's writings on his work sites are included alongside photographs of the sites themselves. In essence, the reader is invited to share with Nietzsche, through his voice and vision, his own experience of these extraordinary places.