The surviving correspondence between Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno, which appears here for the first time in its entirety in English translation, documents one of the most remarkable and intense intellectual relationships of modern times. In over a hundred letters, which range from brief and cordial exchanges to dense and detailed theoretical elucidations, it is now possible to trace the complex and developing character of Benjamin?s and Adorno?s attitudes to one another, and not least to many of their mutual friends, like Scholem, Bloch and Brecht. The correspondence also reveals the considerable lengths to which Adorno went in furthering Benjamin?s interests intellectually and financially, and provides further insight into the cultural politics of the period and those of the Institute for Social Research. Both correspondents express their sharply formulated opinions in an extremely candid and vivid fashion. When this book appeared in German, it caused a sensation...