This account of the friendship between Bertolt Brecht and Walter Benjamin, and their influence on each other, is academic and scholarly but nevertheless accessibly written – even though probably not for the casual reader. The book explores in depth what the relationship meant to each of them, both professionally and personally. Benjamin’s admiration for Brecht is more well-known than perhaps Brecht’s for Benjamin, but it is clear from the research that they held each other in high esteem. The intellectual and cultural life of Germany at that time forms the backdrop to the narrative, and places both writers in their historical context. The author is the director of the Bertolt Brecht Archive in Berlin as well as the Walter Benjamin Archives. He has used the letters and journals from the archives for the book, which gives it both authority and credibility. It wasn’t an easy read, but I learnt much from it and would recommend it to serious readers interested in either or both of these iconic figures of 20th century German culture.