Though it may seem paradoxical, this book is not about Nietzsche, strictly speaking. It is a book about men and women today, and the profound crisis that we are collectively experiencing. If Nietzsche emerges as a protagonist, it is only because I believe that no ther thinker has explored this crisis with the depth that he has, and no one else has proposed a possible way out of the crisis quite as well as he has. Only in this sense might this book be "about" Nietzsche. Few philosophers have been as misunderstood and, I would add, completely misrepresented as Nietzsche. In our day and age, understanding the core of his work is one of the most urgent and important challenges we can and should pose for ourselves. Of all the philosophers of the modern era, none projects into the future quite as deeply and powerfully as Nietzsche does. His philosophy opens the door to an entirely different future. It is like a ray of light illuminating a path that we cannot help but follow. (RAFAEL ECHEVERRÍA, "INTRODUCTION")