Glass Bead Game

Hermann Hesse was born in Calw, Württemburg in 1877. In 1919, as a protest against German militarism in the First World War, Hesse moved to Switzerland where he lived in self-imposed exile until his death at the age of eighty-five in 1962. His major works include Steppenwolf, Siddharta and Narcissus and Goldmund. Hesse worked on his magnum opus, The Glass Bead Game, for twelve years. This novel was specifically cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. Hesse died in 1962.

"One of the truly important books of the century, in any language" The Times "Sublime" -- Thomas Mann "A massive novel set out to explore the positive side of human nature, the fullness of man's capacity as a thinker and as a prober into scared mysteries...Touching and impressive" Observer