E.T.A. Hoffmann

A life of the nineteenth-century German writer and composer most famous for inspiring The Nutcracker.

E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) is celebrated for his supernatural fiction such as The Sandman as well as his musical achievements, notably the opera Undine. This book offers a concise yet comprehensive introduction to Hoffmann as a Romantic writer, composer, and public figure. It follows his life as a lawyer, theater director, and senior judge in Berlin, where he clashed with authorities over their persecution of student radicals. Drawing on Hoffmann’s personal writings and contemporary recollections, Ritchie Robertson also highlights how historical events like Napoleon’s invasion disrupted Hoffman’s career. Considering his literary and musical contributions together, the book presents Hoffmann as a multifaceted artist whose inventiveness, both comic and spine-chilling, remains influential today.

Ritchie Robertson is a fellow of the Queen’s College, Oxford and the Emeritus Schwarz-Taylor Professor of German at the University of Oxford. His books include German Political Tragedy: The Machiavellian Plot and the Necessary Crime.