Unavoidable Germans describes how 20th century Germany, with its high reputation in philosophy, the arts, and especially music, could accept a banal, undereducated outsider, Hitler, as national and cultural leader. In exploring German culture, the author found three "unavoidable Germans" in Goethe, Wagner, and Thomas Mann, whom the book examines in detail before bringing the fourth unavoidable personality, Hitler himself, on the scene to examine how he dealt with German artistic and cultural standard—and how the artists and philosophers reacted to him. A clear understanding of the collision of German culture and the brutal, uncompromising principles of Hitler enables conclusions that can be applied to any nation whose political system is under attack or in a state of deterioration. Understanding the events of the German 20th century, and of the previous two centuries which laid the groundwork for this, the most extreme case imaginable of culture colliding with brutality, helps us make more intelligent artistic and political choices for ourselves.