<ul> <li> Demonstrates how the lineage and legacies of <em>Gesamtkunstwerk</em> (the ideal of the &quot;total work of art&quot;) extend well beyond German Romanticism.</li> <li> Eleven compact essays trace the idea&rsquo;s evolution in German-speaking Europe.</li> <li> Provides a broad perspective on a distinctively modern cultural form.</li></ul>