Walter Benjamin

This is the author of the book. Although his name does not appear to be so, he is apparently a German. Like the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Benjamin was a German in France for a large portion of his life. Due to this, use of both of these European languages is part of the daily life. There is no explanation given early in the book how it is that the author has a name that looks and sounds a great deal more British or even North American than German. Perhaps this was a side effect of effective cross-pollination amongst European breeds. He conducted his study of the 19th century during the 20th.

The book was published in the 1980s. Benjamin is one of the many who had to leave one nation due to the troubles with Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. Amongst his friends, was the fellow...