The arresting story of how Thomas Mann wrote The Magic Mountain as a defeated Germany descended into political chaos “A lavish work of historical analysis that doubles as a kind of psychological thriller. Mann’s magnum opus is not just a novel, Jensen suggests, but a thinly veiled spiritual autobiography.”―Anna Ballan, New Criterion   Like many writers of his generation, Thomas Mann (1875–1955) welcomed the outbreak of the First World War. He viewed it as a spiritual necessity, a chance to reassert German cultural dominance over Western ideas of democracy and enlightenment. Then, in 1924, he published The Magic Mountain , a massive novel that culminates in the slaughter of war and foreshadows the Nazi terror to come. One of the central achievements of modernism, The Magic Mountain bears testimony to its author’s dramatic political reorientation as a defender of democracy.   This poignant book is a biography of Mann’s great novel―its evolution from a short story into a two-volume masterpiece and one of the bestselling novels of the Weimar era. Deftly weaving together elements of biography, history, and literary criticism, Morten Høi Jensen reveals how writing The Magic Mountain against a backdrop of world war, revolution, hyperinflation, and rising right-wing terror moved Mann to embrace the democratic and humanistic ideas he once scorned.   One hundred years after The Magic Mountain was first published, at a time when democratic ideas are again under threat, Jensen reveals the universality and timeliness of Mann’s great novel―its still-resonant debates over democracy and tyranny, time and place, illness and death. “An approachable and informative study.”―Chris Power, The Guardian “Packed with facts and engagingly written . . . exactly the introduction the Anglophone lover of Mann’s novel needs. . . . The Master of Contradictions offers us a new way to think about Mann as a writer and pedagogue whose first object of education was himself. It is a worthy tribute to this fascinating writer.”―Susan Bernofsky, The Nation “A lavish work of historical analysis that doubles as a kind of psychological thriller. Mann’s magnum opus is not just a novel, Jensen suggests, but a thinly veiled spiritual autobiography.”―Anna Ballan, New Criterion “Jensen takes us on a fascinating journey. . . . Superbly researched. . . . A gripping account of the personal transformation that Thomas Mann underwent during the writing of The Magic Mountain .”―Costica Bradatan, Commonweal “A nuanced portrait . . . thoughtful [and] perceptive.”— Kirkus Reviews “It is a mark of a talented writer that, in the span of a single page, Jensen shifts from lucid, informative prose to vivid, novelistic storytelling. . . . The Master of Contradictions is a biography, a history book and a work of literary criticism, but it is also a provocation to the present. . . . Jensen shows us that we have much to learn from Mann.”―Charlotte Stroud, Engelsberg Ideas “Brilliant. . . . Jensen provides the best possible introduction to Mann’s great book, along with a lucid portrait of Mann’s character as an author.”―David Mikics, Tablet “This is a whole new genre―a kind of Netflix-style academic book which reads scenically yet delivers a powerful historical analysis.”― Morning Star “Jensen is a gifted writer and a subtle, sensitive reader of Mann. . . . Especially captivating and sobering is Jensen’s vivid portrait of the political situation in Munich after the end of the First World War. . . . Delightfully readable.”―Anthony Curtis Adler, Los Angeles Review of Books “My favorite scholarly title of the year. . . . [Jensen has] an admirably deft and confident touch.”―Scott Spillman, Chronicle of Higher Education “ The Master of Contradictions is many things: a biography of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain , a history of the Weimar Republic, and a story about one reader’s relationship to the most beguiling novel of the twentieth century. Morten Høi Jensen writes from a place of profound feeling and deep erudition. He is the perfect guide to the novel’s intricate, enchanted world; I did not want to stop exploring it with him.”—Merve Emre, contributing writer, New Yorker “ The Master of Contradictions could not be a more perfect book for our times. Jensen charts Mann’s progress from an enthusiastic militarist who scorned democracy to a stalwart defender of the Weimar Republic with sensitivity, intelligence, and a sharp eye for poetic detail.”—Phil Klay, author of Missionaries “Meticulously detailed, with delicious bites of gossip, Jensen gives the reader a portrait of Mann at his finest and most human. Tender and personal, brash and piercing, finely researched and a pleasure to read.”— Samantha Rose Hill, author of Hannah Arendt “An absolutely gripping read!”—Tobias Boes, author of A Reader’s Guide to Thomas Mann’s “Doctor Faustus” “Morten Høi Jensen’s study of The Magic Mountain reads like a mystery story, inspiri