Stefan Zweig

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Phyllis & Trevor BlewittIntroduction by Joan Acocella "Beware of Pity, his first venture in longer fiction, is original and powerful work . . . Zweig has chronicled a hopeless and tragic relationship in a manner that so holds the reader as never to dispirit him, telling a story full of psychological pitfalls that only an experienced writer, and an experienced human being could dare to attempt . . . Zweig remains, after Beware of Pity, what he seemed to be–in his novelettes and biographies–before he wrote it: a brilliant writer."—The New York Times The great Austrian writer Stefan Zweig was a master anatomist of the deceitful heart, and Beware of Pity, the only novel he published during his lifetime, uncovers the seed of selfishness within even the finest of feelings. Hofmiller, an Austro-Hungarian cavalry officer stationed at the edge of the empire, is invited to a party at the home of a rich local landowner, a world away from the dreary routine of the barracks. The surroundings are glamorous, wine flows freely, and the exhilarated young Hofmiller asks his host's lovely daughter for a dance, only to discover that sickness has left her painfully crippled. It is a minor blunder that will destroy his life, as pity and guilt gradually implicate him in a well-meaning but tragically wrongheaded plot to restore the unhappy invalid to health. Paperback392 pagesNYRB Classics, 2006Originally published in 19395 x 1 x 8 inchesISBN 9781590172001Fiction

Beware of Pity

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Anthea Bell “[Burning Secret is] a devastatingly accurate picture of childhood on the cusp of adolescent disillusion.”—Gary Indiana, Bookforum“Breathtaking…the final sentence is unlike anything I have ever read before; and transforms not only the book, but, in a way, the reader as well.”—Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian“Zweig is the most adult of writers; civilised, urbane, but never jaded or cynical; a realist who none the less believed in the possibility—the necessity—of empathy.”—The Independent A suave baron takes a fancy to twelve-year-old Edgar's mother, while the three are holidaying in an Austrian mountain resort. His initial advances rejected, the baron befriends Edgar in order to get closer to the woman he desires. The initially unsuspecting child soon senses something is amiss, but has no idea of the burning secret that is driving the affair, and that will soon change his life for ever. Paperback160 pagesPushkin Press; Reissue Edition, 2018Originally published in 19135.1 x 0.4 x 7.1 inchesISBN 9781782274520Fiction

Burning Secret

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Anthea Bell Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colorful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil. A group of passengers on a cruise ship challenge the world chess champion to a match. At first, they crumble, until they are helped by whispered advice from a stranger in the crowd - a man who will risk everything to win. Stefan Zweig's acclaimed novella Chess is a disturbing, intensely dramatic depiction of obsession and the price of the past. Hardcover128 pagesPenguin Classics, 2023Originally published in 19424.63 x 0.54 x 6.61 inchesISBN 9780241630822Austrian Literature

Chess

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Anthea BellIntroduction by George Prochnik “Confusion is one of his finest and most exemplary works . . . a marvelously poised account of misunderstood motives, thwarted love, and sublimated desires . . . a perfect reminder of, or introduction to, Zweig’s economy and subtlety as a writer.”—Robert Macfarlane, The Times Literary Supplement“Confusion, which I recently devoured at a sitting, is in essence a simple story. An elderly academic looks back on the most intense and formative relationship of his life."—Harry Eyres, Financial TimesStefan Zweig was particularly drawn to the novella, and Confusion, a rigorous and yet transporting dramatization of the conflict between the heart and the mind, is among his supreme achievements in the form. A young man who is rapidly going to the dogs in Berlin is packed off by his father to a university in a sleepy provincial town. There, a brilliant lecture awakens in him: a wild passion for learning—as well as a peculiarly intense fascination with the graying professor who gave the talk. The student grows close to the professor, becoming a regular visitor to the apartment he shares with his much younger wife. He takes it upon himself to urge his teacher to finish the great work of scholarship that he has been laboring at for years and even offers to help him in any way he can. The professor welcomes the young man’s attentions, at least on some days. On others, he rages without apparent reason or turns away from his disciple with cold scorn. The young man is baffled, wounded. He cannot understand. But the wife understands. She understands perfectly. And one way or another she will help him to understand too.Paperback176 pagesNYRB Classics, 2012Originally published in English in 19275 x 0.5 x 8 inchesISBN 9781590174999Psychological Fiction

Confusion

Von Stefan ZweigDie Welt von Gestern—das war aus Sicht Stefan Zweigs die bürgerliche Welt im habsburgischen Österreich, die in zwei Weltkriegen unterging. Zweig schildert das alte Wien, das Leben seiner Generation und seine eigene Biografie. Im südamerikanischen Exil, in dem er in seinen letzten Lebensjahren dieses sehr persönliche Buch niederschrieb, erreichten ihn die Schreckensmeldungen aus Hitlers Drittem Reich. Die "Welt von Gestern" war unwiederbringlich verloren—doch in diesem bewegenden Buch wurde sie für die Nachwelt aufgehoben. Also available in English here. Hardcover574 pagesAnaconda Verlag, 2013Originally published in 19415.2 x 1.9 x 7.6 inchesISBN 9783866478992Memoir, History, Biography

Die Welt von Gestern: Erinnerungen eines Europäers

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Will Stone "A fascinating glimpse into interwar Europe that still feels fresh today."—The Lady"[The pieces] blend travel writing with a journalistic dedication."—Pendora Magazine"Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies [are] almost too impressive to take in."—Clive James "When I am on a journey, all ties suddenly fall away. I feel myself quite unburdened, disconnected, free—there is something in it marvelously uplifting and invigorating. Whole past epochs suddenly return: nothing is lost, everything still full of inception, enticement." For the insatiably curious and ardent Europhile Stefan Zweig, travel was both a necessary cultural education and a personal balm for the depression he experienced when rooted in one place for too long. He spent much of his life weaving between the countries of Europe, visiting authors and friends, exploring the continent in the heyday of international rail travel. Comprising a lifetime’s observations on Zweig’s travels in Europe, this collection can be dipped into or savoured at length, and paints a rich and sensitive picture of Europe before the Second World War. Paperback128 pages5.1 x 0.4 x 7.8 inchesPushkin Press, 2019Originally published in 1976ISBN 978782274759Travel, Non-Fiction, Short Story

Journeys

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Cedar Paul "Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies, whether in essay or monograph form, remain a body of achievement almost too impressive to take in…Full-sized books on Marie-Antoinette, Mary Stuart, and Magellan were international best sellers.”—Clive James, Cultural Amnesia"Stefan Zweig cherished the everyday imperfections and frustrated aspirations of the men and women he analysed with such affection and understanding.”—Paul Bailey, Times Literary Supplement The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) is one of the most famous navigators in history—he was the first man to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe, although he was killed en route in a battle in the Philippines.In this biography, Zweig brings to life the Age of Discovery by telling the tale of one of the era’s most daring adventurers. In typically flowing and elegant prose he takes us on a fascinating journey of discovery ourselves.Paperback352 pagesPushkin Press, 2012Originally published in 19385.2 x 0.8 x 7.8 inchesISBN 9781906548490Biography, History

Magellan

Von Stefan Zweig"Stefan Zweig's Novellen wenden die neu gewonnenen Erkenntnisse der zeitgenössischen Psychologie in einem biegsamen, fast nervös vibrierenden Stil auf ihre Themen an." —Richard FriedenthalPaperback490 pagesText in GermanFischer Verlag, 20014.7 x 1.1 x 7.5 inchesISBN 9783596149919Fiction, Novellas

Meisternovellen

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Will StoneCover illustration by David Pearson "Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies remain a body of achievement almost too impressive to take in."—Clive James"[Zweig’s] life and work tell of the perilous flimsiness of our world of security—a message that many insistently deny, but somehow need to hear."—John Gray, New Statesman He who thinks freely for himself, honours all freedom on earth.Stefan Zweig was already an émigré-driven from a Europe torn apart by brutality and totalitarianism-when he found, in a damp cellar, a copy of Michel de Montaigne's Essais. Montaigne would become Zweig's last great occupation, helping him make sense of his own life and his obsessions-with personal freedom, with the sanctity of the individual. Through his writings on suicide, he would also, finally, lead Zweig to his death.With the intense psychological acuity and elegant prose so characteristic of Zweig's fiction, this account of Montaigne's life asks how we ought to think, and how to live. It is an intense and wonderful insight into both subject and biographer. Paperback153 pagesPushkin Press, 2015Originally published in 19854.8 x 0.6 x 6.5 inchesISBN 9781782271031Biography, Philosophy

Montaigne

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Will Stone "Zweig’s accumulated historical and cultural studies [are] almost too impressive to take in."—Clive James"Zweig is the most adult of writers: civilized, urbane, but never jaded or cynical; a realist who none the less believe in the possibility—the necessity—of empathy." —Independent"Zweig…deserves to be famous again, and for good."—TLS In this vivid biography, Zweig eschews traditional academic discussion and focuses on Nietzsche’s habits, passions and obsessions. Concentrating on the man rather than the work, on the tragedy of his existence and his apartness from the world in which he moved in enforced isolation, Zweig draws the reader inexorably into Nietzsche’s tragic life.This edition is illustrated with numerous photographs relating to Nietzsche and his European locations, in a superb translation by Will Stone.Paperback128 pages Pushkin Press, 2020Originally published in 19257.8 x 0.3 x 5.1 inchesISBN 9781782276364Biography

Nietzsche

By Volker WeidermannTranslated from German by Carol Brown Janeway “Intimate . . . Weidermann gives us a glimpse of what was, to many of these writers, a brief but rare home.”—Claire Hazelton, The Guardian“Potent and melancholy . . . Weidermann has combed letters, books, diaries, and reminiscences and used them to tell his sad tale as if it were a novel."—Michael Prodger, The Times, London“Dazzling. . . Graceful. For such a slim book to convey with such poignancy the extinction of a generation of ‘Great Europeans’ is a triumph.”—The Sunday Telegraph“Beautifully translated by Carol Brown Janeway . . . a short but vital calm-before-the-storm history, one that shines a valuable light on two of the 20th century’s finest writers . . . rich in insight and empathy. This is a sparkling gem.”—Malcolm Forbes, Minneapolis Star-Tribune It’s the summer of 1936, and the writer Stefan Zweig is in crisis. His German publisher no longer wants him, his marriage is collapsing, and his house in Austria—searched by the police two years earlier—no longer feels like home. He’s been dreaming of Ostend, the Belgian beach town that is a paradise of promenades, parasols, and old friends. So he journeys there with his lover, Lotte Altmann, and reunites with fellow writer and semi-estranged close friend Joseph Roth, who is himself about to fall in love. For a moment, they create a fragile haven. But as Europe begins to crumble around them, the writers find themselves trapped on vacation, in exile, watching the world burn. In Ostend, Volker Weidermann lyrically recounts “the summer before the dark,” when a coterie of artists, intellectuals, drunks, revolutionaries, and madmen found themselves in limbo while Europe teetered on the edge of fascism and total war. Ostend is the true story of two of the twentieth century’s great writers, written with a novelist’s eye for pacing, chronology, and language—a dazzling work of historical nonfiction. Hardcover164 pagesPantheon, 2016 5.4 x 0.8 x 7.8 inchesISBN 9781101870266Literature, Biography, European History

Ostend: Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, and the Summer Before the Dark

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Anthea Bell In this magnificent collection of Stefan Zweig’s short stories the very best and worst of human nature are captured with sharp observation, understanding and vivid empathy. Ranging from love and death to faith restored and hope regained, these stories present a master at work, at the top of his form. Perfectly paced and brimming with passion, these twenty-two tales from a master storyteller of the Twentieth Century are translated by the award-winning Anthea Bell. Paperback720 pagesPushkin Press Classics, 2025 5.1 x 7.8 inches ISBN 9781805331827Literature, Short Stories

The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig

By Stefan Zweig “I found it terrible, yet at the same time touching, for in all the years of the war I had not seen so perfect and pure an expression of bliss on any German face.” An ostensibly whimsical story about the adventures of a Berlin art dealer, Stefan Zweig’s The Invisible Collection is a powerful evocation of the condition of Germany between the wars. When Zweig’s anonymous narrator sets off to the provinces in search of a lucrative bargain, he finds himself caught up in the slow unfolding of a family tragedy—and is confronted with a unique reminder of the power of art…Eris Gems make available in the form of beautifully produced saddle-stitched booklets a series of outstanding short works of fiction and non-fiction.Paperback36 pagesEris Gems, 2024Originally published in 19257.68 x 4.33 inchesISBN 9781912475865 Literary Fiction

The Invisible Collection

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Anthea Bell, Eden Paul, Cedar Paul "The fates of men are nothing to the universe, Zweig tells us – but he makes us care"—Sunday Times "Thoughtful, highly observant, and humane" —Guardian Five tales of family breakdown, political struggle, and monomaniacal obsession from one of the defining voices of the European Jewish diaspora. Moving back through time from the First World War to Ancient Rome, these stories play on the tension between religion, society and individual with masterful irony. We encounter heroes and bookworms, visionaries and gadabouts, patriarchs and rebels – united across the centuries by faith, and by the intensity with which they live and die, their individual passions blazing out against the forces of history. Includes: "Buchmendel," "Downfall of the Heart," "The Miracles of Life," "In the Snow," and "The Buried Candelabrum" Paperback288 pagesPushkin Press, 2025 5.07 x 7.78 inchesISBN 9781805331834Literature

The Last Miracle: Jewish Stories

By Stefan ZweigTranslated by Joel Rotenberg "The Post Office Girl is a fine novel and an excellent place to start if you are new to this great Austrian novelist. It is a powerful social history, describing in moving detail the social impact of the First World War, and the extreme poverty in which so many people were forced to live. It shows up the challenge to European civilisation of the early Thirties and the failure of humanism, in which Zweig believed until the end of his life. And it is remarkable for the bleak interior worlds it depicts of anxiety, self-doubt, depression and disintegration. Zweig succeeded in taking the most complex concepts of psychoanalysis and bringing them vividly to life." —The TelegraphThe logic of capitalism, boom and bust, is unremitting and unforgiving. But what happens to human feeling in a completely commodified world? In The Post-Office Girl, Stefan Zweig, a deep analyst of the human passions, lays bare the private life of capitalism.Christine toils in a provincial post office in post–World War I Austria, a country gripped by unemployment. Out of the blue, a telegram arrives from Christine’s rich American aunt inviting her to a resort in the Swiss Alps. Christine is immediately swept up into a world of inconceivable wealth and unleashed desire. She feels herself utterly transformed: nothing is impossible. But then, abruptly, her aunt cuts her loose. Christine returns to the post office, where yes, nothing will ever be the same. Christine meets Ferdinand, a bitter war veteran and disappointed architect, who works construction jobs when he can get them. They are drawn to each other, even as they are crushed by a sense of deprivation, of anger and shame. Work, politics, love, sex: everything is impossible for them. Life is meaningless, unless, through one desperate and decisive act, they can secretly remake their world from within. Cinderella meets Bonnie and Clyde in Zweig’s haunting and hard-as-nails novel, completed during the 1930s, as he was driven by the Nazis into exile, but left unpublished at the time of his death. The Post-Office Girl, available here for the first time in English, transforms our image of a modern master’s achievement.Paperback260 pagesNYRB Classics, 2008Originally published in 19825 x 0.6 x 8 inchesISBN 9781590172629Fiction

The Post-Office Girl

By Stefan Zweig Translated by Anthea Bell Cover illustration by Edward Steichen Written as both a recollection of the past and a warning for future generations, The World of Yesterday recalls the golden age of literary Vienna—its seeming permanence, its promise, and its devastating fall. Surrounded by the leading literary lights of the epoch, Stefan Zweig draws a vivid and intimate account of his life and travels through Vienna, Paris, Berlin, and London, touching on the very heart of European culture. His passionate, evocative prose paints a stunning portrait of an era that danced brilliantly on the edge of extinction. This new translation by award-winning Anthea Bell captures the spirit of Zweig’s writing in arguably his most revealing work. Stefan Zweig (1881–1942) was born in Vienna, a member of a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Zweig traveled widely, living in Salzburg between the wars, and enjoyed literary fame. His stories and novellas were collected in 1934. In the same year, with the rise of Nazism, he briefly moved to London, taking British citizenship. After a short period in New York, he settled in Brazil where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in bed in an apparent double suicide. Also available in German here. Paperback472 pagesNebraska University Press, 2013Originally published in 19415.5 x 1 x 8.5 inchesISBN 9780803226616Biography, History, Travel

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