Zweig's story is important not only for his literary value but also for the lessons we can take from his ideals of peace, liberty of the individual and the moral unity of the world, all of which remain so very pertinent today.

    Complex in plot, the novel permits a more traditional reading than many of Schmidt's works. The year is 2014 in Tellingstedt near the Danish border. The city is now a reservation in which the few German survivors of the atomic war exist, overseen by the United States. A "story within a story/play within a play," the wonder of this book lies not only in its plot but in its intricacy of allusion and references to Jules Verne and Shakespeare.Arno Schmidt is the author of Radio Dialogues, Volumes 1 and 2.

    Lucullus --* Mother Courage and her children

    Sent by Churchill to divert the Germans from Dunkirk and so save the British Army from total annihilation and capture, 29 Brigade had orders not to evacuate or surrender.Airey Neave, later to be Margaret Thatcher's right hand man until his assassination in 1979, was one of those who fought, and was wounded and captured there