Michael Kohlhaas

by Heinrich von Kleist

Published February 1968
"You can send me to the scaffold, but I can make you suffer, and I mean to."

Based on actual historic events, this thrilling saga of violence and retribution bridged the gap between medieval and modern literature, and speaks so profoundly to the contemporary spirit that it has been the basis of numerous plays, movies, and novels.

It has become, in fact, a classic tale: that of the honorable man forced to take the law into his own hands. In this incendiary prototype, a minor tax dispute intensifies explosively, until the eponymous hero finds the forces of an entire kingdom, and even the great Martin Luther, gathered against him. But soon even Luther comes to echo the growing army of peasants asking, Isn’t Kohlhaas right?

Widely acknowledged as one of the masterworks of German literature, Michael Kohlhaas is also one of the most stirring tales ever written of the quest for justice.

The Art of The Novella Series

Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.

The Duel

by Heinrich von Kleist

Published 1 January 2011
About This Book

"No amount of wisdom could possibly make sense of the mysterious verdict which God intended through this duel."


A new translation of a key work by one of European literature’s most important early writers.

One of the few novellas written by the master German playwright, The Duel was considered by Thomas Mann and others to be one of the great works of German literature. The story of a virtuous woman slandered by a nobleman, it is a precise study of a subject that fascinated von Kleist: That people are sometimes seemingly punished for their very innocence.

This Is A Melville House “HybridBook”

HybridBooks are a union of print and electronic media: Purchasers of this print edition also receive Illuminations—additional curated material that expand the world of Kleist’s novella through text and illustrations—at no additional charge. 
 
To obtain the Illuminations for The Duel by Heinrich von Kleist, simply scan the QR code (or follow a url) found at the back of the print book, which leads to a page where you can download a file for your preferred electronic reading device.


"Illuminations" contains writings by Paul the Deacon - J.G. Millingen - Sir Walter Scott - Johann Ludwig Uhland - Miguel de Cervantes - Andrew Lang - John Carl Blankenagel - Louis and Regis Senac - Alfred Hutton - Fiore de Liberi and a collection of the twelve laws of chivalry.
 
Illustrations include: Gerhard von Kugelgen - Johannes Gehrts - Jörg Breu Jüngere and Pauls Hector Mair - Achilles Emperaire - George Muhlberg and others.
 
Also included is The Duelist’s Supplement – “The Art of Dueling: How To Shoot and Slash Your Way To Satisfaction” which includes an entire facsimile scan of Fior de Liberi's Flower of Battle.