'Nobody in their right mind denies that Wagner was an anti-Semite, and a virulent one at that. But is there actual evidence of anti-Semitism in the works themselves? ...Weiner's brilliant book gathers the evidence more meticulously and comprehensively than any has done before, and is essential reading' - Barry Millington, Opera. 'A serious attempt to place Wagner's dramatic work into proper context both in the field of music and in the repertoire of antisemitic literature, and it deserves to be studied carefully' - Cecil Bloom, Judaism Today. 'A tremendous advance in the study of Wagner and the cultural influences that informed his work' - Hillary Hope Herzog, Modern Language Notes. 'An immensely informative cultural history' - German Life. 'Certainly the most important work on Wagner that I have read in the last decade. It opens up fresh approaches and is likely - no, certain - to have a major impact on Wagner studies as well as the history of antisemitic mentality' - Paul Lawrence Rose, author of Wagner: Race, Revolution and Redemption. Marc A. Weiner is a professor of Germanic studies and film studies at Indiana University and the author of Undertones of Insurrection (Nebraska 1993).