David Barnett is Reader in Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Sussex. He is the author of Brecht in Practice: Theatre, Theory and Performance (2014), Rainer Werner Fassbinder and the German Theatre (Cambridge, 2005) and Literature versus Theatre: Textual Problems and Theatrical Realization in the Later Plays of Heiner Müller (1998). He has also edited the ninth volume of Brecht's collected plays in English, the Berliner Ensemble Adaptations (2014). He writes extensively on political and post-dramatic theatre in Europe and has published articles in Modern Drama and Contemporary Theatre Review on Brechtian and post-Brechtian theatre.

• Introduction; 1. The Berliner Ensemble as an opportunity to establish a new type of theatre; 2. The founding and the first season of the Berliner Ensemble; 3. The Berliner Ensemble's years at the Deutsches Theater: 1949–53; 4. Brecht's last seasons at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm: 1954–6; 5. Developing the Brechtian legacy: 1956–61; 6. Making theatre politically after the Berlin Wall: 1961–5; 7. Years of crisis: 1966–71; 8. A new beginning: 1971–4; 9. A new crisis: 1974–7; 10. A safe pair of hands: 1977–81; 11. Crisis and stagnation: 1981–9; 12. Wekwerth's last stand: 1989–91; 13. From gang of five to power of one: 1992–5; 14. The last hurrahs: 1996–9; Conclusion.

'Barnett's history of the company is a major achievement and a fascinating read.' Laura Bradley, University of Edinburgh