Fukuyama, Francis. "Nietzsche: a Philosophy in Context." NEW YORK TIMES April 29, 2010.

Young, Julian. Nietzsche: a Philosophical Biography. Cambridge: CUP, 2010. One of the pitfalls of writing a biography of a great philosopher is the temptation to reduce important ideas to mere psychology, an outgrowth of some fluke in the philosopher’s personal development. Julian Young, a professor at the University of Auckland and Wake Forest University, has for the most part avoided this trap by writing a “philosophical” biography of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) in which the life story provides context but ultimately not explanation for the ideas. In so doing he has provided a serious and readable, if not exactly ground-breaking, introduction to Nietzsche’s “philosophy with a hammer.” Context is particularly important in Nie­tzsche’s case because his life story was so dramatic. . . . Read the whole review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/books/review/Fukuyama-t.html?fta=y.