Professor of Apocalypse

[A] . . . fascinating, judicious biography. 'Professor of Apocalypse' is at once a history of ideas, a gripping psychological melodrama and a study of the surprising power of intellectual charisma to make and unmake lives. ---Mark Lilla, New York Times Book Review This comprehensive biography is an important one. . . . [Muller's] cogently documented biography, empathic in its presentation and judgment, goes a long way in helping us put mortal flesh on the charismatic puzzle that was Jacob Taubes. ---Steven Aschheim, Los Angeles Review of Books Muller has written more than a biography of a talented and tormented Jew and professor of philosophy and religion. Through painstaking reconstruction of the myriad communities of scholars in which Taubes operated and the various worlds of ideas in which he revolved, Muller illuminates hitherto unconnected but fascinating chapters in European, American, and Israeli intellectual life. ---Peter Berkowitz, Commentary A well-crafted, exhaustively researched, intellectually balanced biography. ---Abigail Rosenthal, VoegelinView [Professor of Apocalypse] captures the complex personality of an exceptionally difficult man, and the complexity of the age he lived through. . . . Biographers often grow to despise their subjects. Not without cause, Muller at some points is clearly exasperated. But it speaks to his talent and patience that by the end of his book his readers cannot help but love Taubes, for all of his sins. ---Daniel Miller, Mars Review of Books