Wolf Among Wolves

This sweeping saga of love in dangerous times – the 1923 collapse of the German economy, when food and money shortages led to rioting in the streets and unemployed soldiers marauding through the countryside – is deemed by many to be Hans Fallada’s greatest work. Yet its 1938 publication made his publisher so fearful of Nazi retribution that he told Fallada, “If this book destroys us, then at least we’ll be destroyed for something that’s worth it.”It appears here in its first unabridged translation into English, based on a contemporaneous translation by Philip Owens that has been revised and restored in full by Thorsten Carstensen and Nicholas Jacobs. Carstensen also provides an afterword discussing why the original version of the book was so heavily edited ... and why Fallada’s publisher thought a love story might get them killed. Hailed as “Fallada’s best book” ( The New Yorker ), this sprawling post-WWI is a portrait of Berlin in a time of great upheaval—and of the common man’s struggle to survive it all Set in Weimar Germany soon after Germany’s catastrophic loss of World War I, the story follows a young gambler who loses everything in Berlin, then flees the chaotic city, where worthless money and shortages are causing pandemonium. Once in the countryside, however, he finds a defeated German army that has decamped there to foment insurrection. Somehow, amidst it all, he finds romance—it’s The Year of Living Dangerously in a European setting. Fast-moving as a thriller, fascinating as the best historical fiction, and with lyrical prose that packs a powerful emotional punch, Wolf Among Wolves is the equal of Fallada’s acclaimed Every Man Dies Alone as an immensely absorbing work of important literature. “An unmissably brilliant portrait of Berlin before the Nazis.” —The Times of London Wolf Among Wolve s is a sprawling saga of the collapse of a culture--its economy and government--and the common man's struggle to survive it all. Set in Weimar Germany soon after Germany's catastrophic loss of World War I, the story follows a young gambler who loses all in Berlin, then flees the chaotic city, where worthless money and shortages are causing pandemonium. Once in the countryside, however, he finds a defeated German army that has deamped there to foment insurrection. Somehow, amidst it all, he finds romance--it's The Year of Living Dangerously in a European setting. Fast-moving as a thriller, fascinating as the best historical fiction, and with lyrical prose that packs a powerful emotional punch, Wolf Among Wolves is the equal of Fallada's acclaimed Every Man Dies Alone as an immensely absorbing work of important literature. A Sprawling Saga Of The Collapse Of A Culture, Its Economy And Government And The Common Man's Struggle To Survive It All. Set In Weimer Germany Soon After Their Defeat In Wwi, A Young Gambler Looses It All In Berlin And Flees The City For The Countryside. However, He Is Greeted By A Defeated German Army That Has Camped There To Foment Insurrection. Somehow, Amidst All The Chaos, He Finds Romance. This Fast-moving Thriller Is Also A Fascinating Piece Of History, Written In Lyrical Prose That Carries A Powerful Emotional Punch. Hans Fallada ; Translated By Philip Owens ; Restored, And With Additional Translations By Thorsten Carstensen And Nicholas Jacobs. Translated From The German. In Weimar Germany a young gambler loses everything in Berlin, then flees the chaotic city, where worthless money and shortages are causing pandemonium. Once in the countryside, however, he finds a defeated German army ready to foment insurrection First published in 1938 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York