Andreas Platthaus, born in 1966 in Aachen, completed a banking apprenticeship in Cologne before studying philosophy, rhetoric and history. Since 1997 he is editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and currently heads the department “Literature and Literary Life”. In 2006, his highly acclaimed biography Alfred Herrhausen - A German Career (Rowohlt 2006) was published. Platthaus’s great depiction of the Battle of Leipzig, 1813 (Rowohlt 2015), was listed on the prestigious “Spiegel” bestseller list. His most recent publication is The war after the war - Germany between revolution and Versailles 1918/19 (Rowohlt 2018). In 2017 Platthaus, was appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Republic. He lives in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main.