Waiting Room. Book 1. Success

The first novel of the trilogy "Waiting Room," first published in 1930. Working on the novel for three years prior, Feuchtwanger creates a comprehensive panorama of life in Bavaria, where in the 1920s a political force rapidly gains influence, which would soon become not only dominant in Germany but dramatically affect the fate of the whole world. The fictional trial of art historian Martin Krüger, which begins the novel, becomes a point of no return, demonstrating the impotence of the current authorities against the challenges of modernity, a catalyst for the popularity of the vigorous ideology of true patriots, and the future success of nationalists led by a charismatic leader. Prophetically interpreting the events unfolding on the political stage of his native Bavaria as tragic, Feuchtwanger was forced to leave Munich and began writing "Success" in Berlin. With the rise of the National Socialists, his books were placed on the list of those to be burned, and on August 25, 1933, the writer was stripped of his German citizenship.