Among the many famous intellectuals to emerge from Weimar Germany in the first half of the 20th century, Walter Benjamin is one of the most enigmatic. Seemingly in touch with almost every major intellectual current of his time (most notably the Frankfurt School), he nevertheless transcended and stood at the crossroads of all, producing a highly original body of work as a result.
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" is among the last and most important of Benjamin's works. Composed not long after Adolf Hitler's seizure of power in 1933, the essay is a paradigmatic example of Benjamin's engagement with social, political, and cultural issues in a Europe that was then...
