Klaus Mann Book order

A searing indictment of evil in Hitler's Germany. Hendrik Hofgen is a man obsessed with becoming a famous actor. When the Nazis come to power in Germany, he willingly renounces his Communist past and deserts his wife and mistress in order to keep on performing. His diabolical performance as Mephistopheles in Faust proves to be the stepping-stone he yearned for: attracting the attention of Hermann Goering, it wins Hofgen an appointment as head of the State Theatre. The rewards - the respect of the public, a castle - like villa, a uplace in Berlin's highest circles - are beyond his wildest dreams. But the moral consequences of his betrayals begin to haunt him, turning his dreamworld into a nightmare.

A significant contribution in the formation of 20th-century German literature, this historical fantasy takes Alexander the Great for its subject, looking at his life and career, and examining his obsession with conquest and supremacy regardless of its effects on his friends and lovers. A novel that explores Klaus Mann’s ambiguous sexuality, it was written in 1920s Germany in the aftermath of World War I and can also be viewed as a fascinating study of power with highly political connotations.