Terry Pinkard interweaves the story of "Germany" - changing during this period from a loose collection of principalities to a newly emerged nation with a distinctive culture - with an examination of the currents and complexities of its developing philosophical thought. He examines the dominant influence of Kant, with his revolutionary emphasis on "self-determination," and traces this influence through the development of Romanticism and idealism to the critiques of post-Kantian thinkers such as schopenhauer and Kierkegaard. His book will interest a range of readers in the history of philosophy, cultural history, and the history of ideas.