The life story of the successful author and influential intellectual

Lion Feuchtwanger, world-famous author of "Jud Süß" and "Erfolg" was one of the most eminent thinkers of his time. He deeply influenced the style of theater and literature. He maintained political composure and consciousness when faced with atrocious historical events and never lost his humanity, even when his existence was threatened. Born 1884 in Munich, the Jewish intellectual was one of the first to warn of the impending danger of the Nazis. While in exile in France and the USA, he was a continuous source of support for others. Deep friendships connected him to others who had to escape, including Arnold Zweig, Bertolt Brecht and Heinrich Mann. This biography of the remarkable Lion Feuchtwanger teaches us many valuable lessons.

Published for the first time unabridged, including original documents, this is the record Karl Ignaz Hennetmair made of his daily conversations and encounters with Thomas Bernhard. ------------------------------------------------------- “Thomas is not earnest or bitter; when he whinges about publishers it’s cheerful and witty. I say, ‘publishers like to have their authors on a string, like puppeteers with their puppets. Every publisher has a handful of strings, and as soon as they tug on one, an author appears. But when they pull your string it jams and nothing moves. They just don’t get it.’ Thomas says he will travel to the prize-giving via Frankfurt. There he intends to walk through his publisher’s offices saying, ‘have a good look; this is what a writer looks like [in dialect]. You know, I talk mostly in dialect there,’ he says. ‘I’m pretty brutal. When the secretary asks me to wait, I say something unintelligible. And then the door is opened, some young writer is shunted aside, and I can get straight to Unseld.’”

In 1972 the estate agent Karl Ignaz Hennetmair, a friend and neighbour of Thomas Bernhard, decided to keep a diary of the events and conversations involving Bernhard that year, creating a document of incalculable value to Thomas Bernhard fans. His enemies would have found much to enjoy too, as the manuscript sometimes shows the master in a dark light – but where are the Bernhard detractors today? Thomas Bernhard had understandable difficulties with the outside world; initially it took no notice of him, but as his reputation grew it began to beleaguer him, coming too close for comfort. Sometimes it tended to present him – a man interested solely in his literature –simply as stupid. To counteract all that, he had Hennetmair, who found him his property, his houses and woods, negotiating the deals at favourable prices, but also mediated between the writer and the outside world on an everyday level. Hennetmair dealt with everything from broken window frames to mental garbage, acting as dumping ground and recycling facility. He always kept unwanted visitors away from Bernhard, but equally received him into his own family circle. There they chatted, joked and put the world to rights. Later Hennetmair retreated to his study to write it all down in his diary, which we can now satisfy our curiosity by reading.

Das vielfältige Werk der Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach mit seiner feinen Psychologie und seiner klar formulierten Gesellschaftskritik verdient eine aktuelle Lesart. Gerade die Geschichte von Pavel, dem „Gemeindekind“, der von der Gemeinschaft ausgestoßen wird, dem aber gegen alle Widerstände ein sozialer Aufstieg gelingt, ist von bestürzender Modernität. Auch das unkonventionelle Debüt der Autorin – die 1858 anonym erschienene Briefnovelle „Aus Franzensbad“ – demontiert erfrischend scharf und voller Sprachwitz den damaligen Zeitgeist. Beide Werke zeigen ihren wachen Blick für die brennenden Fragen der Zeit und ihre kritische Haltung zu den Konventionen ihres eigenen Standes.

The dramatic story of the National Socialist coup d’état in Catholic corporatist Austria

A scientific sensation! Kurt Bauer clears up the many myths that surround the July Putsch of 1934 in Austria. He is the first to prove that the coup d’état was ordered by Hitler himself. At 12.53 pm on July 25, 1934, 150 SS troops stormed the chancellery in Vienna. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, self-proclaimed leader of the authoritarian Austro-fascist state, was heavily wounded and subsequently died. The rebels in Vienna gave up by nighttime, but a bloody upheaval of Nazis escalated in the provinces. At the same time, Hitler was listening to Wagner in Bayreuth's festival hall. But things were far from calm in the dictator’s box, as he was impatiently awaiting news from Austria…

The unbelievable story of partisan twin sisters Kara and Jara

Alek Popov's poignant political satire about the heroic partisans of World War II will tickle and delight all fans of black humor. In the forests of Bulgaria, the attractive twin sisters Kara and Jara join a group of partisans in their fight against fascism. Because of their bourgeois background, they are quickly accused of being traitors. Separated on the run, they do not meet again until several years later – but in the meantime, Jara has changed sides… Sharp-tongued and bold, Popov mixes an explosive cocktail of action-packed fights, broken utopias and tragi-comic heroes. Full of suspense, wit and insanity, his novel makes sure that – at least ideologically – nothing stays in place. Alek Popov was born in 1966, degree in Bulgarian philology, lives and works in Sofia. In total he has published six story collections and one novel. His stories and his novel "Mission: London" have been translated into several languages, among others: English, French and Hungarian.