The Cambridge Wagner Encyclopedia

Nicholas Vazsonyi is Jesse Chapman Alcorn Memorial Professor of Foreign Languages and Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of South Carolina. His first book, Lukács Reads Goethe (1997), was followed by two edited volumes, one on German national identity formation between 1750 and 1871 (2000) and the other entitled Wagner's Meistersinger: Performance, History, Representation (2003). Another of his books, Richard Wagner: Self-Promotion and the Making of a Brand (2010, 2012), appeared in German translation as Richard Wagner: Entstehung einer Marke (2012). He is co-organizer with Anno Mungen (University of Bayreuth) of the WagnerWorldWide 2013 project, a series of linked lectures and conferences around the world, to be capped by an edited volume. In 2013, he joined the editorial team of the German journal wagnerspectrum.

'Of course, what you want to know is 'should I buy this book?' My instant reply is that if you have more than a passing interest in Wagner … [then] buy this marvellous, unique work, filled with insights … it would be impossible to believe this book should not find its way into the libraries of any English speaking school, college or university. And any undergraduate or graduate student composing a dissertation or thesis around Wagner would make a serious error to not refer to it - either for its clear exploration of ideas or as a source for further reading … this is not only perhaps the best we could have asked for but the best that we can, or should expect to receive for a very long time - if ever.' The Wagnerian (the-wagnerian.com)

• Editor's preface; Entries A-Z; Appendix 1. Wagner family tree; Appendix 2. Wagner chronology; Appendix 3. Wagner's addresses; Appendix 4. Leitmotifs in Der Ring des Nibelungen; Appendix 5. List of prose works; Appendix 6. List of musical works; Appendix 7. Selected sound recordings; Appendix 8. Selected video recordings; Appendix 9. Documentaries and films; Appendix 10. Stage productions; Appendix 11. Websites; Appendix 12. Museums and archives.