On the occasion of a meeting regarding his major monograph "Work on Myth," Hans Blumenberg writes to the reviewer Götz Müller on July 20, 1981: "I always find it difficult to say something about reviews. It is always too late. However, I feel rightly addressed by you. The book lacks a chapter that was already present in the manuscript, but it completely spoiled my enjoyment of the book. I withheld it. You may do with it what you wish." Müller had criticized Blumenberg for not paying enough attention to modern political myths. However, the manuscript discovered in the estate shows that Blumenberg's theory of myth was indeed developed in the context of an intense engagement with the political uses of mythical thought figures. While in "Work on Myth," the totalitarianism of the 20th century...