Claudio Michele Mancini was born to a German mother and an Italian father shortly after the end of World War II. He grew up in Verbania by Lake Maggiore. After attending a convent school for boys he went on to study psychology, then worked in France, Italy, Germany and the USA as a lecturer and a management consultant. Now he is a full-time writer and Infamità is his first novel. Translation rights available from: Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH Friedrichstr. 126 10117 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 23456450 Emaili: susanna.schaefer@ullstein-buchverlage.de Contact: Susanna Schaefer Applications for assistance with translation costs - Germany Ullstein Verlag was founded in 1877 in Berlin by Leopold Ullstein. He published both newspapers and books, and enjoyed a fine reputation. Among the writers and journalists who were published by and worked closely with Ullstein Verlag in the past are Theodor Wolff, Alfred Kerr, Vicki Baum and Franz Blei. Today its focus is on German and international fiction and non-fiction. After several moves and structural changes Ullstein Verlag returned to the centre of Berlin in 2004. The newly established group Ullstein Buchverlage comprises eight imprints in total, including Propyläen, Marion von Schröder, Claassen, Econ and List. Ullstein Buchverlage is a subsidiary of the Swedish Bonnier media group.