‘… a superb portrait worthy of its impressive subject …  written with concision, brio and infectious love’ 
—A. N. Wilson

‘This is biography as it should be: wondrous, romantic and deeply intelligent.’ 
– Ruth Scurr

‘As entrancing as it is scholarly. Alexander von Humboldt leaps off the page. Maren Meinhardt’s book is a delicious way to get to know this irresistible figure.’ 
– Ferdinand Mount

‘This beautifully attentive and deeply sympathetic book gives us not just its lineaments but something like its ‘soul’, catching with charm and insight more of the complexity and curiosity of its subject than ought to be possible in such a brief space.’ 
– Charlie Louth, Associate Professor of German, The Queen’s College, University of Oxford