Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer, Adrian Leverkuhn is one of the most convincing accounts of genius ever written. Thomas Mann charts Leverkuhn's extraordinary career: from his precious childhood to his tragic death - when Leverkuhn reveals the horrifying price he had to pay for his achievement. Zeitbolm, the narrator, tells his friend's story against the background of the 1939-45 war, which in turn acts as counterpoint to Mann's vast theme: the discord between genius and sanity.