Jacob Paludan was one of Denmark's foremost novelists in the 1920s, and the two parts of his novel, first published as Torden i Syd: Jørgen Stein og hans Kreds (1932) and Under Regnbuen: Jørgen Stein og hans Kreds (1933), then republished as Jørgen Stein: Torden i Syd--Under Regnbuen (1937; translated as Jørgen Stein, 1966), constitute one of the classics of twentieth-century Danish literature. Pursuant to his career as a novelist, Paludan became a prolific book editor and writer of literary essays and reviews. Initially published in newspapers, many of his essays reappeared in books over the years. In addition he had hundreds of feature articles and approximately 2,500 book reviews to his credit. While few of Paludan's novels have kept the public's attention, his position as one of Denmark's masters of the literary essay is solid. A conservative humanist with a keen awareness of modernity...