The Ego Made Manifest

This work is a masterpiece in the history of ideas and on Max Stirner, a highly significant and all-too-neglected 19th-century figure. The breadth and depth of original scholarship is striking. Written in refreshingly clear and elegant prose, Bradshaw presents difficult and complex ideas with clarity and flair, balance and judgment. * John Carroll, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, La Trobe University, Australia * Stirner and egoism have always been at the heart of the historical avant-garde, and that is perhaps most evident in the anarchic, polemical spirit of the avant-garde manifesto. Bradshaw’s book is a vital and timely contribution to the study of the manifesto genre and early 20th-century intellectual culture. * Julian Hanna, Assistant Professor of Culture Studies, Tilburg University, Netherlands * The ghost of Max Stirner walks! The spook of the rogue Hegelian, ostensibly exorcised forever by Karl Marx, returns again in Wayne Bradshaw’s magnificent study of Max Stirner's Egoism and the Modern Manifesto, The Ego Made Manifest. Though long overlooked, Stirner’s Egoist philosophy had a profound impact on European Modernism, in the formative years prior to WWI, and here Bradshaw adeptly traces its influence in Germany, France, Italy, US and United Kingdom, achieving the most complete international picture so far of this 'History of Possession.' As essential for gaining an understanding of Modernist theory and practice as the familiar entry-level knowledge concerning the stream-of-consciousness of William James, Stirner’s Egoism is as yet entirely unknown to the vast majority of readers, even to scholars in the field of Modernist Studies. Bradshaw’s wonderful book might well effect a profound reevaluation of everything we thought we knew about this subject. The Ego Made Manifest is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in Modernist literature. * D. M. Ashford, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, Netherlands *