A major critical and analytical account of the concept of tragedy from its origins in the Ancient world right down to the 21st century. It is a major intellectual endeavour (on a par in ambition with his Ideology of the Aesthetic) and it explores the idea of the ´tragic´ across all genres of writing from theatrical tragedy through the novel, in philosophy, politics, religion and psychology, and throughout western culture. What do we mean by tragedy? What is the nature of its special allure for us? What task does tragedy perform and what are the psychological, the religious, the socio-political implications (as for example in bearing witness to the holocaust) and the consequences of our fascination with the tragic?