Until his death in 1925, Steiner created the body of knowledge and practice known as anthroposophy, which challenged and ex-tended the underlying methods of modern knowledge, and inspired many practical cultural initiatives, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, the move-ment for a threefold social order, and anthroposophical medicine. Henry Barnes recounts the dynamic life of Rudolf Steiner, an active leader whose entire being was given in service to humanity and to the spirit, and places him in the crosscurrents of history.