Was tun, wenn Weihnachten kurz vor der Tür steht und immer noch kein Baum im Haus ist? Oder der Wunschzettel lang ist, aber man »immer so mit dem Pfennig rechnen muss«? Und ob die Tiere draußen auch das Fest feiern können? Der Bestsellerautor Hans Fallada erinnert in seinen Erzählungen an die schönste Zeit des Jahres: »Dies Gefühl aufzuwachen und zu wissen: Heute ist wirklich Weihnachten.

Mitten in den Wirren des Dreißigjährigen Krieges hofft Mutter Courage auf gute Geschäfte: Mit einem Marketenderwagen zieht die alleinerziehende Mutter dreier Kinder verschiedenen Heeren hinterher und verkauft ihre Ware, um ihrer Familie in elenden Zeiten ein Einkommen zu sichern. Doch der Geschäftseifer hat seine Kehrseite: Mutter Courage übersieht, dass für die notleidende Bevölkerung mit dem...

In seiner Bearbeitung des Falls Galilei verschränkt Brecht den historischen Stoff mit Fragestellungen des 20. Jahrhunderts: Das Problem des Widerstands in der Diktatur wird hierin ebenso angesprochen wie die schwierige Rolle von Wissenschaftlern im Zeitalter der Weltkriege.

Stefan Zweig’s Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman, first published in 1927, is a powerful psychological novella that explores obsession, fate, and the intensity of human emotions. Known for his keen insight into the human psyche, Zweig crafts a gripping story about an elderly woman who, for the first time in her life, confesses a passionate and reckless episode from her past. This brief...

The three novels which make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family between 1886 and 1920. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.

Jaroslav Hasek's The Good Soldier Svejk follows the adventures of Josef Svejk, a boisterous and sometimes bumbling (or brilliantly subversive?) Czech soldier, as he navigates the trials of World War I. Thrust into the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army in 1914, Svejk, ‘one of the great characters of 20th century literature’ (New Republic), embarks on a wild trip through war-ravaged Europe as he...

Jaroslav Hasek's The Good Soldier Svejk follows the adventures of Josef Svejk, a boisterous and sometimes bumbling (or brilliantly subversive?) Czech soldier, as he navigates the trials of World War I. Thrust into the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army in 1914, Svejk, ‘one of the great characters of 20th century literature’ (New Republic), embarks on a wild trip through war-ravaged Europe as he...

In these folk tales, young women go on long and perilous quests, wicked stepmothers turn children into geese, and tsars ask dangerous riddles, with help or hindrance from magical dolls, cannibal witches, talking skulls, stolen wives, and brothers disguised as wise birds. Some of the stories here were collected by folklorists during the last two centuries, while the others are reworkings of oral...

Through the tragic life story of the main character, caught in the monstrous whirlwind of historical events – the revolution, the Civil War – the book depicts life itself, its deep, hidden mechanisms, its mysterious essence, its triumphs and failures.