It is indispensable to know Martin Heidegger's work to understand modern thought and culture. His work had a profound impact on a number of disciplines, including theology, existential Sarten, linguistics, Hellenic studies, structural and interpretative schools of scriptural interpretation, literary theory, and literature itself.

With a distinctive appeal and distinctive style, George Steiner makes the work of a very difficult philosopher accessible to the general reader. Steiner's wide range of learning and interests also allows him to place Heidegger in a broader Continental literary cultural context.

In a new introduction, Steiner deals with language, philosophy and the rise of Nazism.