MAGNIFICENT REBELS The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self

This superb audiobook will surely rank among this year's finest histories and literary studies. British actress Julie Teal brings elegance and grace to popular historian Andrea Wulf's lively account of the unconventional group of authors, poets, and intellectuals who congregated in Jena, Germany, in the 1790s and early 1800s, and together inaugurated the modern romantic idea of self. The narrative is highly accessible but challenging, and Teal's skill proves essential. Until Napoleon's battle there in 1806, Jena had housed some of the most illustrious and enduring names of the era: Goethe, Schiller, Hegel, Alexander von Humboldt, and several lesser-known but thoroughly modern women, all illuminated by concise detail and immaculate prose. With such abundance to work with, Teal delivers a lovely, unforced, pitch-perfect narration. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2022]