Friedrich Nietzsche

Ritchie Robertson is a Fellow of the Queen’s College, Oxford, and Emeritus Schwarz-Taylor Professor of German at the University of Oxford. His books include Friedrich Nietzsche (Reaktion Books, 2022) and German Political Tragedy: The Machiavellian Plot and the Necessary Crime (2024).

"[Friedrich Nietzche’s] unclubbable character emerges amply from Ritchie Robertson’s lucid, balanced biography, a study that responds to both parts of its remit as a “critical life”." - Ben Hutchinson, Times Literary Supplement"Robertson is a good storyteller and an erudite scholar, and one can certainly learn many historical facts about Nietzsche and his times by reading this enjoyable book." - Los Angeles Review of Books"As an introduction to Nietzsche, [the book] captures the shape of his intellectual thinking . . . and offers interesting insights into why so many readers have engaged with Nietzsche . . . thrilled by the breaking of traditions but frightened by the implications." - The Gay and Lesbian Review"Ritchie Robertson’s Friedrich Nietzsche is destined to become the best short introduction to the life and writings of the philosopher. Robertson is not a Nietzsche apologist; he faces squarely and honestly Nietzsche’s shortcomings . . . but at the same time he recognizes Nietzsche’s importance for the history of philosophy and his seminal role in challenging the assumptions and easy truths of his predecessors. This type of balanced and informed account is rare in Nietzsche scholarship, and Robertson’s scrupulous incorporation of previous research and exceptionally lucid prose make this book all the more welcomed as an introductory study." - Robert C. Holub, Ohio Eminent Scholar, Professor, and Chair of German Languages and Literatures, the Ohio State University