Hermann-Peter Piwitt belongs to the generation of West German writers the beginning of whose careers coincided with the student movement of 1968. His career is of particular interest from the perspective of a Europe in which a left-wing alternative to the politics of the centre, has disappeared. Through a series of academic articles in English and German, this volume charts his career, from early left-wing commitment, through portraits of life in the Federal Republic of the 1970s and 1980s, to an assessment of his literary and political stance following unification. The volume also includes a previously unpublished essay by Piwitt himself, and an interview with the author held during his period as writer-in-residence at the University of Wales, Swansea.