Feuchtwanger's historical novels have been enjoyed more as history books than as novels. German critics and scholars, ever suspicious of too much popular success, have labeled Feuchtwanger a second- or third-rate writer, but this evaluation is unfair. The quality of his writing may not be on a level with that of Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Alfred Döblin, or Bertolt Brecht, all of whom were Feuchtwanger's friends and models, but it compares well with that of Franz Werfel or Stefan Zweig. Prejudices against the genre of the historical novel have often colored the value judgments of critics. Feuchtwanger's better books have proved to be durable; they enjoy a considerable readership in countries as diverse as the Soviet Union and the United States, are held in high esteem in the German Democratic Republic, and have made a comeback in the Federal Republic.
Feuchtwanger was born in 1884 to Sigmund and Johanna Bodenheimer Feuchtwanger in Munich, where his family owned a margarine factory. The oldest son, he had four brothers and four sisters. While his family was generally tall and physically strong, Feuchtwanger was short and frail, a handicap for which he tried to compensate with his superior intelligence.
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