This book paints a brief picture of Karl Jaspers' unusual life and philosophy. The reader gets to know a brave personality who had to face a life between extremes. Threatened by an incurable disease and harassed by the Nazi regime, Jaspers nevertheless succeeds in building a fruitful work as a psychiatrist, researcher, academic teacher, philosopher and political writer and living an unusually happy marriage in the process. The reader is introduced to the main themes of his thinking: the meaning of life in borderline situations, interpersonal communication, God, the meaning of history and the defense of democracy. His criticism of illiberal totalitarian ways of thinking,