The Consolations of History: Themes of Progress and Potential in Richard Wagner's Gotterdammerung (eBook, PDF)

Alexander H. Shapiro provides a fresh look at the influences on Wagner's Götterdämmerung, and critically re-evaluates the composer's intellectual worldview as revealed in his own prose works, letters and diary entries. The book challenges conventional views that continue to impede a clear understanding of this work's meaning.