Perfectly paced and brimming with passion - twenty-two tales from a master storyteller of the twentieth century

In this indispensable collection of short stories, Stefan Zweig captures the best and worst of human nature. At the heart of these tales lies passion - from a humble waiter's love for an aristocratic guest to an exiled Frenchwoman's longing for the glitter of court life, and a bookseller's fatal lust for print in wartime Vienna.

Translated by the award-winning Anthea Bell, and spanning a prolific literary career, these stories form a map of the human soul, drawn by a writer both tender and perceptive.