Mazzino Montinari (1928-1986) was an Italian philologist and leading Nietzsche scholar. Best known for his collaboration with Giorgio Colli on the critical edition of Nietzsche's works, Montinari dedicated his career to restoring Nietzsche's writings to their authentic form, free from distortions by Nazi and doctrinaire interpretations.Peter J. Schwartz is Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature and Film in the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Boston University. His work turns primarily on matters of verbal and visual expression, social and aesthetic distinction, cultural history and morphology, and media archaeology. He is the author of After Jena: Goethe's Elective Affinities and the End of the Old Regime (2010), co-editor of Labour in a Single Shot: Critical Perspectives on Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki's Global Video Project (2021), and translator of André Jolles's Simple Forms (Verso, 2017) and Mazzino Montinari's What Nietzsche Really Said: A Reader's Guide (Verso, 2026).

Nietzsche became a canvas onto which the entire spectrum of twentieth-century ideas has been projected. In the Cold War of interpretations, Mazzino Montinari was unparalleled in his determination to let the historical Nietzsche speak for himself. As a companion volume to his monumental edition of Nietzsche's works, this small book stands as a testament to a lifelong search for truth.

• Introduction: Mazzino Montinari and Che cosa ha 'veramente' detto Nietzsche (1975) - Peter J. SchwartzMazzino Montinari - What Nietzsche Really Said. A Reader's GuideIntroductionI. Nietzsche's Childhood and Youth (1844-1869)II. The Basel Years (1869-1879)III. The Philosophy of Zarathustra (1880-1884)IV. The Late Nietzsche (1885-1889)V. Nietzsche and the "Consequences"Appendix: Mazzino Montinari - Goethe's Disciple: Notes on Nietzsche and Thomas Mann (1975)