Book excerpt: The Last Romantic in His Own Words presents the selected writings and interviews of Hungarian pianist, conductor, and composer Ernst von Dohnányi. These texts shed new light on Dohnányi's singular aesthetics, as well as on his career as a charismatic and at times controversial public figure who was one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, particularly in Hungary. The book facilitates a much-needed reevaluation of a public figure and private individual caught up in the web of twentieth-century politics, resulting in a picture that is more complete than ever of one of the most elusive musicians of the twentieth century.