America Between Dream and Disillusionment in the Life and Works of a Best-Selling German Author of the 19th Century: Balduin Moellhausen (1825-1905)

This book is a comprehensive study of the life and works of Balduin Moellhausen (1825-1905), who explored the mid-19th century American frontier first as a trapper and later as the protege of Alexander von Humboldt on two official Army expeditions to the Southwest. These experiences formed the basis for two travelogues and numerous popular tales and adventure novels created for a German reading public hungry for impressions from the New World. His realistic yet increasingly nostalgic observations evoke a poignant European image of the American frontier, where the grand drama between nature and civilisation is played out, and of America as a land of promise overshadowed by racism, fanaticism, and materialism. Set on two continents, his novels reflect his hope that the Old and New World may continue to enrich each other.