In the opening decades of the twentieth century, Germany was at the cutting edge of arts and humanities scholarship across Europe. However, when many of its key thinkers--leaders in their fields in classics, philosophy, archaeology, art history, and oriental studies--were forced to flee to England following the rise of the Nazi regime, Germany's loss became Oxford's gain.

From the mid-1930s onwards, Oxford could accurately be described as an "ark of knowledge" of western civilization: a place where ideas about art, culture, and history could be rescued, developed, and disseminated freely....