Ralf Dahrendorf's legendary exchange with Rudi Dutschke in January 1968, at the height of the student revolt, serves as the opening scene of the first biography of perhaps the most significant German intellectual of his generation. Based on extensive research, Franziska Meifort traces the life and thought of this great liberal. Sociology professor, education reformer, FDP politician, EU commissioner, director of the London School of Economics, and ultimately a lord and member of the British House of Lords – Ralf Dahrendorf has repeatedly opened entirely new chapters in his life with breathtaking virtuosity. From the influences of his father's resistance activities and his own imprisonment experience in 1944/45 to his later writings and statements, this thoughtfully reflective biography showcases the work of a public intellectual.