Adolph Menzel is considered the epitome of a realistic artist. Even his early work captures reality with unflinching precision: the beautiful and the terrible, the lofty and the lowly. At the same time, he is a master of atmosphere. The great Menzel expert Werner Busch unveils the complete works of the artist in this beautifully illustrated volume, highlighting his groundbreaking pioneering achievements. In his art, Menzel (1815-1905) aimed for the heart of reality, yet as a person of short stature, he was excluded from many aspects of life. His struggle with reality was therefore also a struggle for self-assertion. Werner Busch's new comprehensive interpretation reveals the biographical and historical impulses that shaped Menzel's work, its turns and breaks. Menzel's paintings of Frederick the Great continue to define our image of this ruler to this day.