Simon explores how the Romantics were involved in fueling ideas of rebellion and imaginative passion that clashed with Enlightenment ideals of reason and mechanical logic.
Simon examines the Romantics' contribution to the idea of 'national belonging' and the distinctly mixed consequences, from the facilitation of authentic cultural development, to the manipulation of their work by nationalist movements.
Simon looks at how the Romantics, before the dawn of the modern psychological revolution, delved into their own minds and the human subconscious, often at great personal cost.