Justus Moeser and the German Enlightenment

Justus Moeser was a pivotal figure in the age of the German Enlightenment. Administrator, journalist, historian, man of letters, Moeser is renowned as one of Germany's finest prose stylists and as one of its most articulate political writers. Known through his political writings for his commitment to conservative reform, he is often called the Edmund Burke of Germany and the father of German conservatism. He is also celebrated for his pioneering Osnabruck History, the first modern social and economic history and a forerunner to Ranke, Marx, and the German historical revolution of the nineteenth century. This work is the first extensive biography of Moeser to place him within his society and the world of the German Enlightenment. Using Moeser's published and unpublished writings, his letters, essays, and histories, the author has written a total history of Moeser's world through Moeser's eyes.