Axel Munthe Books

Munthe was a true Renaissance man a scientist and doctor as well as a poet who was a friend of Henry James, Somerset Maugham, and others. In this 1929 volume, he offers an account of San Michele, a house he built on the site of Roman emperor Tiberius's villa on the Isle of Capri off Italy's southern coast. His weaving of the story of the house with Italian history, mythology, and culture is reminiscent of 18th- and 19th-century travelogs. This book was a smash in several languages for many years. It is now considered a modern classic.

In "Vom Zauber der Insel Capri" erzählt Axel Munthe lebendig von seinem Leben auf Capri und der tiefen Verwurzelung antiker Mythologie. Als junger Medizinstudent entdeckte er die Insel und träumte von einer Villa. Erfolgreich als Arzt, half er sowohl Adligen als auch Bedürftigen, bevor er seine Traumvilla baute.