An irresistible argument for the importance of ‘humanistic values’ – a term Rieman redefines and recontextualizes through a mosaic of influences from Socrates to Spinosa, from Gracian to his friend and mentor George Steiner, and of course Thomas Mann, the author’s ambivalent hero. This extended essay is unapologetically passionate, unashamedly European, opinionated and radical. It is a critical wake-up call to our society by someone who is painfully worried about the disappearance not only of a type of intellectualism but of a sense of culture that underpins our civilization.