Considered one of the brightest thinkers in fin de si cle Europe, Landauer believed in a communitarian anarchism of the head and heart, of thought and action. His desire to "turn your dreams of beauty into a desire for realization," were important themes before World War One. The Preacher of Death (1893) is an important book for understanding pre World War One ideas and is in many ways autobiographical. The universal theme of freedom and the redemptive power of love are brought together in this rare "Tendenzroman" or political novel for the first time.