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Joseph and His Brothers

Brief Description
The definitive translation of Mann's magnum opus Thomas Mann described Joseph and His Brothers as his 'pyramid'β€”his greatest literary achievement, although the Nazi regime in his homeland did their best to tear it down on its first publication. A vivid and dazzlingly ambitious epic, it retells... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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The definitive translation of Mann's magnum opus

Thomas Mann described Joseph and His Brothers as his 'pyramid'β€”his greatest literary achievement, although the Nazi regime in his homeland did their best to tear it down on its first publication. A vivid and dazzlingly ambitious epic, it retells the biblical story of Joseph, whose dreams and visions set him apart from his siblings and lead him first to slavery and ultimately to power and prestige in Egypt.

With rich detail and unexpected humour, Mann paints the lost landscapes of Egypt, Canaan, and Palestine and brings to life the great characters of Genesisβ€”patriarchs, pharaohs, avenged sisters, and jealous brothersβ€”in a story of epic grandeur with a family drama at its heart.

John E. Woods' translation is considered the definitive English versionβ€”a rich and immersive reading experience and a towering achievement of its own.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241785430

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by John E. Woods

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 35.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 500g

Pages: 1536

About the Author

Thomas Mann (Author) Thomas Mann (1875-1955) is regarded by many as the greatest German novelist of the 20th century. Mann's first major novel, Buddenbrooks, sold over a million copies in Germany alone, before Hitler banned and burned it. Mann fled Germany and spent the latter part of his life living in Switzerland and America. He wrote many essays as well as novels, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.

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