Within Four Walls: The Correspondence between Hannah Arendt and Heinrich Blucher, 1936-1968

Here is the life story of two exceptional people, two Germans who fled their country for different reasons. It is the story of their life in exile in Paris and in New York, their dependence on each other and deepening love, their continued exchange of ideas, Arendt's teaching and writing, her involvement with Jewish life in Europe and in Israel, and Blucher's years at The New School and at Bard College. It is also an important document of the '30s in Germany and France, of World War II, and the post-war life in ravaged European cities. Meanwhile, there is love of food and drink, and of friendship-both intellectual and affectionate-with Karl Jaspers, Mary McCarthy, Alfred Kazin, and the complex relationship with Martin Heidegger and his wife. Within Four Walls is an extraordinary personal and historical record.