In this acclaimed international bestseller, Claudio Magris tracks the Danube River, setting his finger on the pulse of Central Europe, the crucible of a culture that draws on influences of East and West, Christianity and Islam. In each town he raises the ghosts that inhabit the houses and monuments, from Ovid and Marcus Aurelius to Kafka and Canetti, in "a fascinating blend of anecdote and history" (San Francisco Examiner). Claudio Magrisis a scholar, translator, and writer. He is a professor of German literature at the University of Trieste, Italy. In this acclaimed international bestseller, Claudio Magris tracks the course of the Danube River, setting his finger on the pulse of Central Europe, the crucible of a culture that draws on influences of East and West, Christianity and Islam. Magris, whose knowledge is encyclopedic and whose curiosity is limitless, guides the reader along the course of the river, from its source in the Bavarian hills through Austro-Hungary and the Balkans to the Black Sea. In each town he raises the ghosts that inhabit the houses and monuments, from Ovid and Marcus Aurelius to Kafka and Elias Canetti. The Danube is the great artery of that elusive territory known as Mitteleuropa, from which so many of the most fascinating people and ideas of European history have emerged, and Magris has produced a wonderful celebration of it in this "fascinating blend of anecdote and history" (San Francisco Examiner),a true classic of twentieth-century literature.

"Magris's writing is as multifarious, as digressive, as whimsical, as ironic and as lyrical as his vision ofMittel Europa."--Richard Eder,Los Angeles Times "A work of great originality . This is the best introduction to the culture of Central Europe, its genius and its tragedy."--The Daily Telegraph(UK) "Certain books, as you read them, have the power to make every other book dispensable. They contain all life within their pages and they flood you with a great melancholy as you begin the final paragraph . One such book isDanubeby Claudio Magris . [It is] a masterwork of prose--a navigation through the tumult of history, literature and mythology that has inspired and bruised us to become what we are today."--Nicholas Shakespeare,The Weekend Telegraph(UK) "The Danube river runs from central to southeast Europe, andDanubeis a stream of consciousness flowing down the history of the great basin.

The intrepid Italian traveler and cultural and literary historian, Claudio Magris, has taken the occasion of his river-length journey to make forays into the legends and lore, history and geography, politics and literature of the peoples and places along the Danube's winding path. The result is a rambling amalgam rich in nuances and allusions . This is a stimulating tour which will challenge and reward the attentive and courageous intellectual traveler."--Library Journal.