Gerhart Hauptmann's relationship to Naturalism has repeatedly been a subject of controversy. To clarify his position, this study analyses both published and unpublished opinions of his contemporaries within Naturalism. Following an outline of Naturalism based on the authors' own views of the often conflicting concepts related to the movement, emphasis is placed upon Naturalist critical response to Hauptmann's early works and upon the works of other Naturalist dramatists in relation to Hauptmann, underlining the authors' dependence upon his dramas as a model for literary success.

What was German Naturalism? What were its achievements? How does it compare with its counterparts in other European countries? These are some of the difficult questions addressed by John Osborne in Gerhart Hauptmann and the Naturalist Drama, a revised and updated version of his The Naturalist Drama in Germany, now widely acknowledged as the standard introduction to the subject. The debates to which he contributed, and in some cases initiated, on Naturalism in the German theatre, Naturalist theory in Germany, and the development of the Naturalist movement to the contemporary Social Democrat movement, have remained central issues. This revised edition preserves the structure and approach of the original, including its emphasis on the early dramas of Hauptmann, while taking full account of subsequent scholarship which provides the context in which this Naturalist playwright's work can be placed.

What was German Naturalism? What were its achievements? How does it compare with its counterparts in other European countries? These are some of the difficult questions addressed by John Osborne in Gerhart Hauptmann and the Naturalist Drama, a revised and updated version of his The Naturalist Drama in Germany, now widely acknowledged as the standard introduction to the subject. The debates to which he contributed, and in some cases initiated, on Naturalism in the German theatre, Naturalist theory in Germany, and the development of the Naturalist movement to the contemporary Social Democrat movement, have remained central issues. This revised edition preserves the structure and approach of the original, including its emphasis on the early dramas of Hauptmann, while taking full account of subsequent scholarship which provides the context in which this Naturalist playwright's work can be placed.

First book in English devoted to Johannes Schlaf, the 19th-century German playwright, bringing fresh insights to the whole movement of German naturalist drama. This is the first book in English on the German playwright Johannes Schlaf (1862-1941), whose involvement in 'consistent realism' and modern theatre in the 1890s provides an insight into the origins and development of German naturalist drama. Schlaf's main contributions to this movement were with Die Familie Selicke (1890), on which he collaborated with Arno Holz, and Meister Oelze (1892), works which show his innovative talents. The author considers these works in the context of the experimental prose sketches which Schlaf worked on with Holz after 1888, and of the realist and naturalist dramas of Hebbel, Ibsen, Hauptmann, and Sudermann; he brings out their growing concern with trapped women and victimised children, as well as their critical focus on the problems of traditional poetry.

John Breuilly brings together a distinguished group of international scholars to examine Germany's history from 1780 to 1918, featuring chapters on economic, demographic and social as well as cultural and intellectual history. There are also chapters on political and military history covering the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the post-Napoleonic period, the revolutions of 1848-1849, the unification of Germany, Bismarckian Germany and Wilhelmine Germany, and Germany during the First World War. This new edition, which retains the helpful further reading suggestions for each chapter and a chronology, has been completely updated to take account of recent historiography. The statistical data has been expanded, more maps and images have been introduced, and there are two new chapters on transnational approaches and gender history. Finally, the editor has added a conclusion which reflects on the key developments in the history of Germany over the “long nineteenth century”. Providing clear surveys of the central events and developments and addressing major debates amongst historians, Nineteenth-Century Germany is vital reading for all those wishing to understand this crucial period in modern German history.