Recently, German publishing has produced a spate of both fascinating and important non-fiction titles. One of which, I have chosen as my favourite book of the year. Volker Weidermann’s Dreamers masterfully brings to life the long-neglected events of 1919 Munich, when poets and other intellectuals tried to establish a new political reality. Breakout at Stalingrad, by Heinrich Gerlach, straddling non-fiction and fiction, is another highlight. It was a privilege to be involved in bringing this book to life for the second time. Gerlach’s epic account of the battle of Stalingrad, reconstructed using hypnosis after the manuscript was seized by Soviet Intelligence Agents, was sold, by myself to Anthony Cheetham in 1957. Remarkably, in 2012, Gerlach’s original manuscript was discovered in the KGB archives, and in 2016 I had the great pleasure of selling the English rights, once again, to Anthony Cheetham of HOZ. The new ‘original’ is a masterpiece, and will be read by generations to come. Finally, Robert Menasse’s The Capital, which was awarded the German Book Prize in 2017, weaves an addictive plot into the fabric of the European Commission’s political machinations. It is a must-read, and will be released in Jamie Bulloch’s English translation in February 2019.
Volker Weidermann, Dreamers, translated by Ruth Martin (Pushkin Press, 2018)
Heinrich Gerlach, Breakout at Stalingrad, translated by Peter Lewis (Head of Zeus, 2018)
Robert Menasse, Die Hauptstadt (Suhrkamp Verlag, 2017) and forthcoming as The Capital, translated by Jamie Bulloch (MacLehose Press, 2019)
Tanja Howarth specializes in placing translation rights with British Publishers on behalf of German Authors and Publishers. Her agency was founded in 1970 and has sold more than 250 German titles to British publishers.
