The literary-philosophical works of Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) rank among the most quietly influential of the post-war era, though only since his death had Benjamin achieved teh fame and critical currency outside his native Germany accorded him by a select few during his lifetime. Now he is widely held to have possessed one of the most acute and original minds of the Central European culture decimated by the Nazis. Illuminations contains his two most celebrated essays, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and Theses on the Philosophy of History, as well as others on the art of translation, Kafka, storytelling, Baudelaire, Brechts epic theatre, Proust and an anatomy of his own obsession, book collecting. The essay is Benjamins domain; those collected in this now legendary volume offer the best possible access to his singular and significant achievement. In a stimulating introduction, Hannah Arendt reveals how Benjamins life and work are a prism to his times, and identifies him as possessing the rare ability to think poetically.