The poetic narrative and philosophical parable "Siddhartha" emerged during a time of political disintegration and existential crisis for Hermann Hesse after World War I. It uncompromisingly poses the question of the meaning of life, drawing from a synthesis of Western and Eastern insights, beyond pious phrases. "Whoever reads, reflects on, and experiences 'Siddhartha' is protected against external subordination, against conformity, against unfreedom." Siegfried Unseld (Hesse's publisher).