Synopses & Reviews
In
Twilight of the Wagners, Gottfried Wagner chronicles his family's connection with National Socialism, from his great-grandfather's anti-Semitic pamphlets to his father's, uncle's and grandparent's close relationship with Adolf Hitler. Gottfried's discovery of his family's controversial past has led him on an impassioned crusade as an adult to examine the hatred and racism he knew growing up in Bayreuth-- where the family's annual festivals in honor Richard Wagner's operas are major cultural events.
Review
"A great-grandson [Gottfried Wagner] seeks to unmask a false god." -
-Bernard Holland,The New York Times"While many Germans of his generation chose to cold-shoulder enquiries about what their parents and grandparents had done during the war, [Gottfried Wagner] started scraping away at his family's 'poisoned roots'. The ghosts he has stirred in the course of this search... have shaken Germany to the core."
--Christine Toomey, The London Times
"A disturbing examination of the great composer's legacy that sheds new light on a powerful clan and the persistence of Nazi ideology in postwar Germany." --Kirkus Reviews
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [301]-303) and index.
About the Author
Gottfried Wagner was born in Bayreuth, Germany, in 1947. He works internationally as a lecturer, stage and video director, music historian, and writer, and is a foudnder of the Post Holocaust Dialog Group. He lives in Italy with his wife and son.