Hermann Hesse remains a classic with which many readers begin their discovery of world literature. Gunnar Decker now presents a new, comprehensive biography. It portrays Hesse as a person who struggled with crises and self-doubt and was a loner throughout his life. These experiences have left deep marks in his novels, but his works also always deal with new beginnings and the promise of a successful life. Decker convincingly demonstrates how, for Hesse, life and writing are inseparably linked. With this biography, Hesse has arrived in the present: as a visionary defender of the spirit in the age of mass culture.