Book excerpt: A publication of the Goethe Society of North America, carrying Goethe criticism (and studies of his contemporaries); extensive book review section. The Goethe Yearbook is a publication of the Goethe Society of North America, which was founded in 1980 to promote the study of Goethe and his contemporaries. Originally conceived as a vehicle for Goethe criticism in Englishduring the Cold War political tensions, when the most prestigious Goethe publication, the Goethe Jahrbuch, was not available to most Western scholars, the Yearbook subsequently gained the respect of the international community, and has published articles, in both English and German, by scholars from around the world; it is unique among other periodicals devoted to the 'Goethezeit' for its extensive book review section.