This book is a slightly revised translation of the author’s Percy Bysshe Shelley. Leben und Werk (1998), the first German biography of the deplorably neglected English romantic. It frees the poet from both melodramatic fictionalizing and idealizing mystification. By making use of the fascinating correspondence of the young avantgardist, his famous wife Mary, his friends and critics, as well as ample quotation from his poetry and prose, the biography awakens the reader to a deeper appreciation of a dramatic life, of modern dimensions, and a significant work of lasting poetical and political value. An updated bibliography and an index are included.