Sunday Feature: The Tragical Adventure of Heinrich von Kleist

Ivan Howlett explores the life and work of one of the most tortured but brilliant writers of the early 19th century. Heinrich von Kleist died by his own hand in 1811 at the age of 34. He produced a body of work that eventually earned him a place in German literature next to Goethe and Schiller and was a major influence on Nietzsche and Kafka. He received practically no recognition in his lifetime, however, and even today he is little known outside Germany.