For such a philosophy, there could be no better historical background than the Germany of 1848 and after, and Problematische Naturen with its sequel Durch Nacht zum Licht (1862), — although it squanders material for half a dozen novels, idealizes Teutonic morbidity, and forsakes art for tendency, — tells with remarkable vividness the story of the men and women who lived and thought and fought for freedom in Germany's day of hope.