The historian and political scientist Sigmund Neumann (1904-1962) is considered one of the pioneers of comparative dictatorship and party research. In light of the 'international civil war' - a term that Neumann used without fear - he saw himself from the very beginning as a teacher of democracy. Michael Kunze reconstructs both Neumann's life in Germany up to his emigration and his travels back to his homeland, which he undertook on behalf of the Americans after 1945. This study also sheds light on Neumann's work as a trailblazer of comparative political science and situates it within the state of the science of his time.

Michael Kunze, Dr. phil., born in 1982, studied political science, sociology, and social and economic geography at the TU Chemnitz and the University of Bradford/North England. He earned his doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy of the TU Chemnitz in the field of political science. He works as an antiquarian.