"A deep and highly complex drama of the psyche" (Financial Times)

"Mann's obsessive story explores the complex, haunted relationship between an ageing writer and a beautiful Polish boy" (Express)

"This complex fin-de-siecle masterpiece...seems eerily to pre-echo the destructive decadence that would shortly shatter European civilisation itself -" (The Times)

"A story of obsession and spiritual malaise" (Observer)

The Vintage Classics Europeans series - with covers provided by textile design firm Wallace Sewell, these are must-have editions of European masterpieces, celebrating the warp and weft of a shared literary treasury

Aging writer Gustave von Aschenbach is disappointed by Venice. The skies are leaden, the air is thick and sultry, and a sickening stench emanates from the murky labyrinth of canals. It would hardly be sensible to stay, especially not when rumours of a ?sickness? spread through the city. And yet Aschenbach cannot leave: he has seen an entirely beautiful young boy and has fallen under an enchantment. He must stay near the boy, though never speaking to him, even until it is too late.

Also includes the stories 'LITTLE HERR FRIEDEMANN', 'THE JOKER', 'THE ROAD TO THE CHURCHYARD', 'GLADIUS DEI', 'TRISTAN' and 'TONIO KRUGER'.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY DAVID LUKE


?Mann was a master magician of German ? and world ? literature in the twentieth century? Sunday Telegraph