Mario and the Wizard and Disorder

This book contains two of Thomas Mann's most important short stories. "Early Trouble and Sorrow" (1925) depicts, through the story of a little girl, the state of crisis that German society was exposed to after the defeat of World War I. In "Mario and the Magician" (1930), Thomas Mann presents a wonderful classic parable about the rise of fascism in Italy as seen through the eyes of a troubled German. There are close links between the two novels, and this book includes an in-depth study of them by the professor of German literature Alan Bunce.