  There is considerable evidence that powerful radio quasars and radio galaxies
are orientation-dependent manifestations of the same parent population: massive
spheroids containing correspondingly massive black holes. Following the
recognition of this unification, research is directed to the task of
elucidating the structure and composition of the active nuclei and their hosts
to understand the formation and evolution of what we expect to become the most
massive of galaxies. In contrast to the quasars, where the nucleus can outshine
the galaxy at optical/near infrared wavelengths by a large factor, the radio
galaxies contain a 'built-in coronograph' that obscures our direct view to the
nucleus. These objects present our best opportunity to study the host galaxy in
detail. Of particular interest are those sources with redshifts greater than
about 2 that represent an epoch when nuclear activity was much more common that
it is now and when we believe these objects were in the process of assembly. In
combination with high resolution imaging from space (HST), optical
spectropolarimetry with Keck II allows us to clearly separate the scattered
nuclear radiation from the stellar and gaseous emission from the host galaxy.
The rest-frame ultraviolet emission line spectra suggest that rapid chemical
evolution is occurring at this epoch. Near infrared spectroscopy with the VLT
is giving us access to both the lines and continuum in the rest-frame optical
spectrum, allowing investigations of the evolved stellar population and
extending the composition analysis with measurements of the familiar
forbidden-line spectrum.
