AhauntingportraitofArthurRosenberg,oneofNazism’schiefarchitects,andhisobsessionwithoneofhistory’smostinfluentialJewishthinkersInTheSpinozaProblem,IrvinYalomspinsfactandfictionintoanunforgettablepsycho-philosophicaldrama.Yalomtellsthestoryoftheseventeenth-centurythinkerBaruchSpinoza,whosephilosophyledtohisownexcommunicationfromtheJewishcommunity,alongsidethatoftheriseandfalloftheNaziideologueAlfredRosenberg,whotwohundredyearslaterduringWorldWarIIorderedhistaskforcetoplunderSpinoza’sancientlibraryinanefforttodealwiththeNazis’“SpinozaProblem.“SeamlesslyalternatingbetweenGoldenAgeAmsterdamandNaziGermany,Yalominvestigatestheinnerlivesofthesetwoenigmaticmeninataleofinfluenceandanxiety,theoriginsofgoodandevil,andthephilosophyoffreedomandthetyrannyofterror.
