Forced by a hand injury to abandon a career as a pianist, Robert Schumann went on to become one of the world's great composers. Now, in Robert Schumann: Herald of a `New Poetic Age', John Daverio presents the first comprehensive study of the composer's life and works to appear in nearly a century. Drawing on documents only recently brought to light, the author interprets Schumann's creative legacy in the context of his life and times, combining nineteenth-century cultural and intellectual history with a fascinating analysis of the works themselves.