E. T. A. Hoffman's "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816)" is a fairy tale of a young girl's magical dream, filled with stories with dark undertone. In 1844, Dumas adapted the tale as a children's story, which is now well known as a ballet, choreographed by Marius Petipas with Tchaikovsky's music.

About the Author
E.T.A. Hoffmann was born in Konisberg in 1776. Phantasiestucke, his earliest collection of tales, appeared in 1814. This was followed by Nachtstucke and then by Die Serapions bruder. Among his longer works is his second and final novel, The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr. Hoffmann died in berlin in 1822. After moving to Paris, Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870) began writing and by twenty-five, he had his first success as a playwright. His writing was prolific, resulting numerous plays, novels, travel diaries as well as several children's stories. Joachim Neugroschel has translated numerous books from French, German, Italian, Russian and Yiddish. Jack Zipes is a professor of German at the University of Minnesota. A specialist in folklore, fairy tales, and children's literature, he has written several books of criticism and edited numerous anthologies.


Book Information
ISBN 9780143104834
Author E. T. A. Hoffmann
Format Paperback
Page Count 192
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 159g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 129mm * 12mm