When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that such stories as "Rapunzel", "Hansel and Gretel", and "Cinderella" would become the most celebrated in the world. Yet few people today are familiar with the majority of tales from the two early volumes, since in the next four decades the Grimms would publish six other editions, each extensively revised in content and style. For the very first time, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm makes available in English all 156 stories from the 1812 and 1815 editions. These narrative gems, are newly translated and brought together in one beautiful audiobook. From "The Frog King" to "The Golden Key", wondrous worlds unfold - heroes and heroines are rewarded, weaker animals triumph over the strong, and simple bumpkins prove themselves not so simple after all. Esteemed fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes offers accessible translations that retain the spare description and engaging storytelling style of the originals. Indeed, this is what makes the tales from the 1812 and 1815 editions unique - they reflect diverse voices, rooted in oral traditions, that are absent from the Grimms' later, more embellished collections of tales. Zipes' introduction gives important historical context, and the book includes the Grimms' prefaces and notes. A delight to read, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm presents these peerless stories to a whole new generation of readers. Read more

She has a secret. Keeping it will mean the difference between life and death.1941, Poland. Though war rages around her and occupying German forces march steadily onward, 16-year-old Aleksandra has lived her life sheltered from danger.Until one day, she goes to school – never to return.Pushed roughly into a truck with other schoolgirls like her, a single ominous word tells her all she needs to know about her fate: Lebensborn.Lebensborn, the infamous German “voluntary reproduction” program – rumored to involve the abduction of blond-haired, blue-eyed girls and forcing them to bear the children of Nazi soldiers.But when their convoy is bombed en route to Berlin, Aleksandra and the girls see their chance to escape. In a foreign land, far from home, they know their survival depends on keeping their identities a secret.Resourceful and determined not to be discovered, Aleksandra takes a job as a nurse in the German city of Dresden. Just as she starts to think she might live to see the end of the war, her carefully crafted secret begins to unravel. Aleksandra knows that if she ever wants to see her home and family again, she will have to risk it all – on her own.Previously published as Before Berlin. Read more

Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect (German: ungeheueres Ungeziefer, lit. "monstrous vermin") and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition. The novella has been widely discussed among literary critics, with differing interpretations being offered. In popular culture and adaptations of the novella, the insect is commonly depicted as a cockroach.With a length of about 70 printed pages over three chapters, it is the longest of the stories Kafka considered complete and published during his lifetime. The text was first published in 1915 in the October issue of the journal Die weißen Blätter under the editorship of René Schickele. The first edition in book form appeared in December 1915 in the series Der jüngste Tag, edited by Kurt Wolff. Read more

She has a secret. Keeping it will mean the difference between life and death.1941, Poland. Though war rages around her and occupying German forces march steadily onward, 16-year-old Aleksandra has lived her life sheltered from danger.Until one day, she goes to school – never to return.Pushed roughly into a truck with other schoolgirls like her, a single ominous word tells her all she needs to know about her fate: Lebensborn.Lebensborn, the infamous German “voluntary reproduction” program – rumored to involve the abduction of blond-haired, blue-eyed girls and forcing them to bear the children of Nazi soldiers.But when their convoy is bombed en route to Berlin, Aleksandra and the girls see their chance to escape. In a foreign land, far from home, they know their survival depends on keeping their identities a secret.Resourceful and determined not to be discovered, Aleksandra takes a job as a nurse in the German city of Dresden. Just as she starts to think she might live to see the end of the war, her carefully crafted secret begins to unravel. Aleksandra knows that if she ever wants to see her home and family again, she will have to risk it all – on her own.Previously published as Before Berlin. Read more

For countless millennia, the dwarves of the have defended the stone gateway into Girdlegard. Many and varied foes have hurled themselves against the portal and died attempting to breach it. No man or beast has ever succeeded. Until now. . .Abandoned as a child, Tungdil the blacksmith labors contentedly in the land of Ionandar, the only dwarf in a kingdom of men. Although he does not want for friends, Tungdil is very much aware that he is alone -- indeed, he has not so much as set eyes on another dwarf. But all that is about to change. Sent out into the world to deliver a message and reacquaint himself with his people, the young foundling finds himself thrust into a battle for which he has not been trained. Not only his own safety, but the life of every man, woman and child in Girdlegard depends upon his ability to embrace his heritage. Although he has many unanswered questions, Tungdil is certain of one thing: no matter where he was raised, he is a true dwarf.And no one has ever questioned the courage of the Dwarves. Read more

Rilke's timeless letters about poetry, sensitive observation, and the complicated workings of the human heart.Born in 1875, the great German lyric poet Rainer Maria Rilke published his first collection of poems in 1898 and went on to become renowned for his delicate depiction of the workings of the human heart. Drawn by some sympathetic note in his poems, young people often wrote to Rilke with their problems and hopes. From 1903 to 1908 Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young, would-be poet on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. Those letters, still a fresh source of inspiration and insight, are accompanied here by a chronicle of Rilke's life that shows what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote them.  Read more

Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short story writer based in Prague. He is regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work combines both realism and the fantastic.In the story, “The Metamorphosis,” the protagonist is Gregor Samsa. One day he wakes up... in the form of a gigantic insect. Gregor is left without work, and his relatives lock him in a room, adding to his anguish. These changes that completely isolate Gregor from the world lead to his death in the end. This is actually a relief for his family who by then are sick of him.The story’s description of Gregor’s gradual expulsion from the circle of people closest to him is read as a process of ruthless rejection of "others,” individuals suffering from their own human misfortune, by a prosperous yet indifferent society. Read more

The original vision of Grimms' tales in English for the first timeWhen Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that such stories as "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Cinderella" would become the most celebrated in the world. Yet few people today are familiar with the majority of tales from the two early volumes, since in the next four decades the Grimms would publish six other editions, each extensively revised in content and style. For the very first time, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm makes available in English all 156 stories from the 1812 and 1815 editions. These narrative gems, newly translated and brought together in one beautiful book, are accompanied by sumptuous new illustrations from award-winning artist Andrea Dezsö.From "The Frog King" to "The Golden Key," wondrous worlds unfold―heroes and heroines are rewarded, weaker animals triumph over the strong, and simple bumpkins prove themselves not so simple after all. Esteemed fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes offers accessible translations that retain the spare description and engaging storytelling style of the originals. Indeed, this is what makes the tales from the 1812 and 1815 editions unique―they reflect diverse voices, rooted in oral traditions, that are absent from the Grimms' later, more embellished collections of tales. Zipes's introduction gives important historical context, and the book includes the Grimms' prefaces and notes.A delight to read, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm presents these peerless stories to a whole new generation of readers. Read more

A snapshot in time holds secrets waiting to be revealed.Berlin, 1938. Samuel Weiss and Max von Hofmannsthal were best friends until the cruel antisemitism of Nazi Germany seeped into Berlin and tore their friendship apart. As Max rises in the ranks of the Nazi SS, Sam and his Jewish family find themselves simply struggling to survive.And when Max and Sam’s paths cross once again among the bleak barracks of Auschwitz-Birkenau, their fates will intertwine in ways neither of them could ever have expected.Pittsburgh, present day. Becky’s father, Sam, has never liked to talk about his time in the Holocaust. A sad and withdrawn man, all she knows is that her brave father survived the hell on earth that was Auschwitz.But when Becky stumbles upon an old notebook of her mother’s, she starts to realize that there may be far more to her father’s story than she’d thought. And when an old photograph from 1944 Auschwitz surfaces suddenly, she is drawn into a shattering discovery that will tear apart everything she’s ever believed to be true.The Auschwitz Photograph is a captivating story of friendship, hope, survival, and betrayal in World War II.Previously published as The Dead Are Resting. Read more

Do you know what the hardest thing for a German learner is?Finding PROPER reading material that they can handle…which is precisely the reason we’ve written this book!Teachers love giving out tough, expert-level literature to their students, books that present many new problems to the reader and force them to search for words in a dictionary every five minutes — it’s not entertaining, useful or motivating for the student at all, and many soon give up on learning at all!In this book we have compiled 20 easy-to-read, compelling and fun stories that will allow you to expand your vocabulary and give you the tools to improve your grasp of the wonderful German tongue.How German Short Stories for Beginners works:Each story is interesting and entertaining with realistic dialogues and day-to-day situations.The summaries follow a synopsis in German and in English of what you just read, both to review the lesson and for you to see if you understood what the tale was about.At the end of those summaries, you’ll be provided with a list of the most relevant vocabulary involved in the lesson, as well as slang and sayings that you may not have understood at first glance!Finally, you’ll be provided with a set of tricky questions in German, providing you with the chance to prove that you learned something in the story. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answer to any — we will provide them immediately after, but no cheating!We want you to feel comfortable while learning the tongue; after all, no language should be a barrier for you to travel around the world and expand your social circles!So look no further! Pick up your copy of German Short Stories for Beginners and start learning German right now!This book has been written by a native German author and is recommended for A2+ level learners. Read more

The Glass Bead Game is an ultra-aesthetic game which is played by the scholars, creamed off in childhood and nurtured in elite schools, in the province of Castalia. The Master of the Glass Bead Game, Joseph Knecht, holds the most exalted office in Castalia. He personifies the detachment, serenity and aesthetic vision which reward a life dedicated to perfection of the intellect. But can, indeed should, man live isolated from hunger, family, children, women, in a perfect world where passions are tamed by meditation, where academic discipline and order are paramount? This is Herman Hesse’s great novel. It is a major contribution to contemporary philosophic literature and has a powerful vision of universality, the inner unity of man’s cultural ideals and his search for personal perfection and social responsibility. Read more

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER •  Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany."A formally beautiful, disturbing and finally morally devastating novel." —Los Angeles TimesWhen he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover—then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder. Read more

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • A monumental work of erudition and irony, sexual tension and intellectual ferment, The Magic Mountain is an enduring classic.With this dizzyingly rich novel of ideas, Thomas Mann rose to the front ranks of the great modern novelists, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. The Magic Mountain takes place in an exclusive tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps–a community devoted to sickness that serves as a fictional microcosm for Europe in the days before the First World War.To this hermetic and otherworldly realm comes Hans Castorp, an “ordinary young man” who arrives for a short visit and ends up staying for seven years, during which he succumbs both to the lure of eros and to the intoxication of ideas. Read more

Get ready - it's time to start learning!You will be amazed at what you can pick up—it's so much more than just a few words here or there. Take your German to the next level and boost your vocabulary, reading comprehension and grammar sense with episode 1 of our short story series for beginners!Newly arrived in Berlin, a young man from Sicily is thrown headlong into an unfamiliar urban lifestyle of unkempt bachelor pads, evanescent romances and cosmopolitan encounters of the strangest kind. How does he manage the new language? Will he find work?Experience daily life in the German capital through the eyes of a newcomer, learn about the city and its people, and improve your German effortlessly and instantly.It's all about immersion! The ultimate goal of any good learner.Just got started learning the language of poets and thinkers? Memorized a few words but struggle with longer texts? This book is designed to help beginners make the leap from studying isolated words and phrases to reading (and enjoying!) German fiction.Using simplified sentence structures and a very basic vocabulary you can build upon, this German reader of 10 short stories for beginners is carefully crafted to allow even novice learners to fully immerse themselves in an authentic German learning experience.Each chapter comes with a complete German-English dictionary with special emphasis on collocative phrases (high frequency word combinations), short sentences and expressions designed for improved memorization.By working with these building blocks instead of just single words, learners can boost their active usage of new material instantly and make the language learning process more fluid and fun.What You'll Find In This Book10 quirky chapters set in bustling Berlina relatable protagonist and other fun characterstons of phrases and expressions you will actually use in daily lifea detailed German-English dictionary after every chapterfun short quizzes to check your text-comprehension (including answers)bonus materials including video, flashcards and further exercisesthe beginning of a grand German learning adventure ...Read, Learn & Collect Them AllYes! That's right. This is only the first episode of a whole series of exciting German short stories for beginners. Follow our protagonist to Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Zurich, Vienna and many other cities! Before you know it, you'll have travelled half of Europe and picked up more German than years' worth of expensive courses.Learning German has never been more fun.What You WON'T Find In This Bookarchaic German words and phrases nobody uses in real lifedull characters designed by academics and committeesgeneric sentences that don't go nowherecondescending storytelling that insults your intelligencea teaching approach which takes itself too seriouslyWelcome to episode 1 of Dino lernt Deutsch: Café in Berlin - the perfect way to step up your vocabulary, boost your grammar sense and have a ball reading in German! Read more

The original vision of Grimms' tales in English for the first timeWhen Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that such stories as "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Cinderella" would become the most celebrated in the world. Yet few people today are familiar with the majority of tales from the two early volumes, since in the next four decades the Grimms would publish six other editions, each extensively revised in content and style. For the very first time, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm makes available in English all 156 stories from the 1812 and 1815 editions. These narrative gems, newly translated and brought together in one beautiful book, are accompanied by sumptuous new illustrations from award-winning artist Andrea Dezsö.From "The Frog King" to "The Golden Key," wondrous worlds unfold―heroes and heroines are rewarded, weaker animals triumph over the strong, and simple bumpkins prove themselves not so simple after all. Esteemed fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes offers accessible translations that retain the spare description and engaging storytelling style of the originals. Indeed, this is what makes the tales from the 1812 and 1815 editions unique―they reflect diverse voices, rooted in oral traditions, that are absent from the Grimms' later, more embellished collections of tales. Zipes's introduction gives important historical context, and the book includes the Grimms' prefaces and notes.A delight to read, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm presents these peerless stories to a whole new generation of readers. Read more

This 1st volume of contains the following 50 works, arranged alphabetically by authors’ last names:Alcott, Louisa May: Little WomenAusten, Jane: Pride and PrejudiceAusten, Jane: EmmaBalzac, Honoré de: Father GoriotBarbusse, Henri: The InfernoBrontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell HallBrontë, Charlotte: Jane EyreBrontë, Emily: Wuthering HeightsBurroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan of the ApesButler, Samuel: The Way of All FleshCarroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandCather, Willa: My ÁntoniaCervantes, Miguel de: Don QuixoteChopin, Kate: The AwakeningCleland, John: Fanny HillCollins, Wilkie: The MoonstoneConrad, Joseph: Heart of DarknessConrad, Joseph: NostromoCooper, James Fenimore: The Last of the MohicansCrane, Stephen: The Red Badge of CourageCummings, E. E.: The Enormous RoomDefoe, Daniel: Robinson CrusoeDefoe, Daniel: Moll FlandersDickens, Charles: Bleak HouseDickens, Charles: Great ExpectationsDostoyevsky, Fyodor: Crime and PunishmentDostoyevsky, Fyodor: The IdiotDoyle, Arthur Conan: The Hound of the BaskervillesDreiser, Theodore: Sister CarrieDumas, Alexandre: The Three MusketeersDumas, Alexandre: The Count of Monte CristoEliot, George: MiddlemarchFielding, Henry: Tom JonesFlaubert, Gustave: Madame BovaryFlaubert, Gustave: Sentimental EducationFord, Ford Madox: The Good SoldierForster, E. M.: A Room With a ViewForster, E. M.: Howards EndGaskell, Elizabeth: North and SouthGoethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young WertherGogol, Nikolai: Dead SoulsGorky, Maxim: The MotherHaggard, H. Rider: King Solomon’s MinesHardy, Thomas: Tess of the D’UrbervillesHawthorne, Nathaniel: The Scarlet LetterHomer: The OdysseyHugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre DameHugo, Victor: Les MisérablesHuxley, Aldous: Crome YellowJames, Henry: The Portrait of a Lady Read more

Helen Davenport, governess for a wealthy London household, longs for a family of her own—but nearing her late twenties, she knows her prospects are dim. Then she spots an advertisement seeking young women to marry New Zealand’s honorable bachelors and begins an affectionate correspondence with a gentleman farmer. When her church offers to pay her travels under an unusual arrangement, she jumps at the opportunity.Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, beautiful and daring Gwyneira Silkham, daughter of a wealthy sheep breeder, is bored with high society. But when a mysterious New Zealand baron deals her father an unlucky blackjack hand, Gwyn’s hand in marriage is suddenly on the table. Her family is outraged, but Gwyn is thrilled to escape the life laid out for her.The two women meet on the ship to Christchurch—Helen traveling in steerage, Gwyn first class—and become unlikely friends. When their new husbands turn out to be very different than expected, the women must help one another find the life—and love—they’d hoped for.Set against the backdrop of colonial nineteenth-century New Zealand, In the Land of the Long White Cloud is a soaring saga of friendship, romance, and unforgettable adventure. Read more

Though hailed a hero by his people, the course of life has not run smooth for the battle-weary Tungdil the dwarf. But there is no rest for this warrior yet -- as he must now find the strength to face the most formidable enemy the kingdom has ever encountered . . . A new evil has risen from the depths of the earth to terrorize the land of Girdlegard. Monstrous creatures -- half-orc, half-élfar -- are roaming the kingdom, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake. These merciless hybrids are on a mission to obtain the most powerful weapon known to the dwarf race -- and whoever holds this weapon will control the world.Then when the fossilized Magus Lot-Ionan is stolen, Tungdil spies total disaster on the horizon. With the very existence of the dwarves under threat, he will have to resort to his trusty double ax and risk everything he knows to save his country from annihilation . . .Hold your breath for The Revenge of the Dwarves, the next thrilling installment in this spectacular fantasy epic from international bestselling author Markus Heitz Read more

While the Battle of Berlin in 1945 is widely known, the horrific story of the Halbe Kessel remains largely untold. In April 1945, victorious Soviet forces encircled 80,000 men of the German 9th Army in the Halbe area, South of Berlin, together with many thousands of German women and children. The German troops, desperate to avoid Soviet capture, battled furiously to break out towards the West, where they could surrender to the comparative safety of the Americans.For the German civilians trapped in the Kessel, the quest to escape took on frantic dimensions, as the terror of Red Army brutality spread. The small town of Halbe became the eye of the hurricane for the breakout, as King Tigers of the SS Panzer Corps led the spearhead to the West, supported by Panthers of the battle-hardened 21st Panzer Division. Panzer by panzer, unit by unit, the breakout forces were cut down – until only a handful of Panthers, other armour, battered infantry units and columns of shattered refugees made a final escape through the rings of fire to the American lines.This first-hand account by the commander of one of those Panther tanks relates with devastating clarity the conditions inside the Kessel, the ferocity of the breakout attempt through Halbe, and the subsequent running battles between overwhelming Soviet forces and the exhausted Reich troops, who were using their last reserves of fuel, ammunition, strength and hope.Eloquent German-perspective accounts of World War 2 are surprisingly rare, and the recent reissue of Wolfgang Faust’s 1948 memoir ‘Tiger Tracks’ has fascinated readers around the world with its insight into the Eastern Front. In ‘The Last Panther,’ Faust used his unique knowledge of tank warfare to describe the final collapse of the Third Reich and the murderous combat between the German and Russian armies. He gives us a shocking testament to the cataclysmic final hours of the Reich, and the horrors of this last eruption of violence among the idyllic forests and meadows of Germany. Read more

The Dark Monk is the second book in Hangman’s Daughter, the million-copy bestselling series.1660: Winter has settled thick over a sleepy village in the Bavarian Alps, ensuring every farmer and servant is indoors on the night a parish priest discovers he’s been poisoned. As numbness creeps up his body, he summons the last of his strength to scratch a cryptic sign in the frost.Following a trail of riddles, hangman Jakob Kuisl, his headstrong daughter, Magdalena, and the town physician’s son team up with the priest’s aristocratic sister to investigate. What they uncover will lead them back to the Crusades, unlocking a troubled history of internal church politics and sending them on a chase for a treasure of the Knights Templar.But they’re not the only ones after the legendary fortune. A team of dangerous and mysterious monks is always close behind, tracking their every move, speaking Latin in the shadows, giving off a strange, intoxicating scent. And to throw the hangman off their trail, they have ensured he is tasked with capturing a band of thieves roving the countryside attacking solitary travelers and spreading panic.Delivering on the promise of the international bestseller The Hangman’s Daughter, Oliver Pötzsch takes us on a whirlwind tour through the occult hiding places of Bavaria’s ancient monasteries. Once again based on prodigious historical research into Pötzsch’s family tree, The Dark Monk brings to life an unforgettable, compassionate hangman and his tenacious daughter, painting a robust tableau of seventeenth-century Bavaria and quickening our pulses with a gripping, mesmerizing mystery. Read more