Drawing on newly discovered archival materials and previously overlooked documents --- from both Germany, where Hannah Arendt was born to a Jewish family in 1906, and the United States, where she was a citizen from 1950 --- Thomas Meyer tells the story of an intellectual icon whose character and ideas continue to captivate and challenge us to this day. Meyer illuminates her formative years and the development of her radical and brilliant books, as well as her lifelong philosophical debate with Martin Heidegger. Meyer’s account centers on two pivotal phases --- Arendt’s years in Paris after fleeing Nazi Germany and her time in the United States leading up to the landmark publication of THE ORIGINS OF TOTALITARIANISM in 1951 --- providing not only a meticulous reconstruction of her life but also a compelling invitation to rethink her legacy for our times.