Description

1930s Berlin is a realm of glamour and sleaze, excess and repression.

Having moved to the city to work on his novel, Christopher finds himself immersed in a world of contradiction. He becomes enamoured with the local denizens and the colourful lives they lead, meeting an English upper-class waif, the delightfully decadent Sally Bowles; a couple – Peter and Otto – who are struggling with their sexual identities; and a distinguished and doomed Jewish family, the Landauers. With the Nazis rising to power, Christopher’s Berlin is a sparkling city perched on the edge of an abyss.

‘Isherwood is a master’ Evening Standard

‘Brilliant sketches of a society in decay’ George Orwell

‘Reading this novel is much like overhearing anecdotes in a crowded bar while history knocks impatiently at the windows’ Guardian

Publisher Review

A great talent * Guardian * Isherwood is a master of the emotionally cathartic moment, funny and perspicacious * Evening Standard * A masterpiece * The Economist * [A] reminder of a bygone era, powerfully capturing the energy and sleaze of Weimar-era Berlin * Independent * Reading this novel is much like overhearing anecdotes in a crowded bar while history knocks impatiently at the windows * Guardian, 1000 novels everyone must read *