The Aesthetics of Resistance
A Novel

Regarded by many as one of the leading works of this century, this novel documents the resistance to fascism in Europe (and within Germany) during World War II.

Weiss suggests that meaning lies in the refusal of humans to renounce resistance, no matter how intense the oppression, and that it is in art that new models of political action and social understanding are to be found. The novel includes extended meditations on paintings, sculpture, and literature. Moving from the Berlin underground to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War and on to other parts of Europe, the story teems with characters, almost all of whom based on historical figures. The Aesthetics of Resistance is a masterpiece: one of the truly great works of postwar German literature and an essential resource for understanding twentieth-century German history.