Anthea Bell

With the Eurozone engulfed in an unprecedented crisis, one political figure looms largest of all, Angela Merkel, the leader of its most powerful economy. While foreign affairs have become the central issues of her chancellorship in this crucial election year, the entire world is anxiously looking to Germany to play its part in Europe's rescue. This authorized biography sheds light on the person behind the politician - from her youthful days of hitchhiking in Tbilisi to being the guest of honour at a White House state dinner - and examines how a girl from East Germany rose to the highest echelons of European power. As well as explaining how Angela Merkel's world view was shaped and influenced by her background and ideology, Stefan Kornelius's lively account discusses her personal relations with international counterparts such as David Cameron, Barack Obama or Vladimir Putin, as well as her attitude towards the countries and cultures over which they rule.

Stefan's Zweig's Beware of Pity is an almost unbearably tense and powerful tale of unrequited love and the danger of pity. The famous novel is published by Pushkin Press in a cloth bound hardback, beautifully designed by Nathan Burton and translated by the award-winning Anthea Bell. In 1913 a young second lieutenant discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance his compensatory afternoon calls relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope. Stefan Zweig's only novel is a devastating depiction of the torment of the betrayal of both honour and love, realised against the background of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 'Beware of Pity is the most exciting book I have ever read...a feverish, fascinating novel' - Anthony Beevor, Sunday Telegraph The novel I'll really remember reading this year is Stefan Zweig's frighteningly gripping Beware of Pity, first published in 1939 ...and part of the ongoing, valiant reprinting by Pushkin Press of Zweig's collected oeuvre; an intoxicating, morally shaking read about human responsibilities and a real reminder of what fiction can do best' - Ali Smith, TLS Book of the Year 2008 'An unremittingly tense parable about emotional blackmail, this is a book which turns every reader into a fanatic' - Julie Kavanagh, Intelligent Life (The Economist) 'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' Wes Anderson 'The rediscovery of this extraordinary writer could well be on a par with last year's refinding of the long-lost Stoner, by John Williams, and which similarly could pluck his name out of a dusty obscurity.' Simon Winchester, Telegraph 'Zweig's single greatest work' The Times 'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' Guardian 'Originaland powerful' New York Times Translated from the German by Anthea Bell, Stefan Zweig's Beware of Pity is published by Pushkin Press. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Zweig travelled widely, living in Salzburg between the wars, and was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman, Amok and Fear. In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he moved to London, where he wrote his only novel Beware of Pity. He later moved on to Bath, taking British citizenship after the outbreak of the Second World War. With the fall of France in 1940 Zweig left Britain for New York, before settling in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press.

Nicholas on Holiday is part of the acclaimed series of classic and much-loved stories about the endearing exploits of the cheeky French schoolboy, Nicholas. All the stories in this volume take place by the sea, during the summer holidays. There are eventful fishing trips, treasure hunts in the middle of the night and a whole new gang of friends with whom Nicholas can get into trouble.

A memoir of brutality, heroism and personal discovery from Europe's dark heart, revealing one of the most extraordinary untold stories of the Second World WarIn the spring of 1945, at Rechnitz on the Austrian-Hungarian border, not far from the front lines of the advancing Red Army, Countess Margit Batthyany gave a party in her mansion. The war was almost over, and the German aristocrats and SS officers dancing and drinking knew it was lost. Late that night, they walked down to the village, where 180 enslaved Jewish labourers waited, made them strip naked, and shot them all, before returning to the bright lights of the party. It remained a secret for decades, until Sacha Batthyany, who remembered his great-aunt Margit only vaguely from his childhood as a stern, distant woman, began to ask questions about it.A Crime in the Family is Sacha Batthyany's memoir of confronting these questions, and of the answers he found. It is one of the last untold stories of Europe's nightmare century, spanning not just the massacre at Rechnitz, the inhumanity of Auschwitz, the chaos of wartime Budapest and the brutalities of Soviet occupation and Stalin's gulags, but also the silent crimes of complicity and cover-up, and the damaged generations they leave behind. Told partly through the surviving journals of others from the author's family and the vanished world of Rechnitz, A Crime in the Family is a moving and revelatory memoir in the vein of The Hare with the Amber Eyes and The House by the Lake. It uncovers barbarity and tragedy but also a measure of peace and reconciliation. Ultimately, Batthyany discovers that although his inheritance might be that of monsters, he does not bear it alone.

'Completely enchanting... a gentle and unexpected love story whose characters are drawn with tenderness and touching honesty. I loved it. It deserves to fly off the shelves!'RUTH HOGAN, author of THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS'I enjoyed it very much, a really charming love story' CATHY HOPKINS, author of THE KICKING THE BUCKET LISTMarguerite has been living a comfortable but dull existence in a suburban town with her straitlaced husband. When he dies, she realises that life has passed her by.Marcel has been in a loving relationship with Nora since they left Algeria sixty years before. Now that he has lost her, he has lost his way. Marguerite and Marcel come from two very different worlds - one rich, one poor. They never should have met. And yet their paths cross, and a connection forms...But will they manage to overcome the disapproval of their friends and families, as well as their own misgivings? 'This gorgeous, optimistic, often very funny love story is full of the joys and despairs of ageing, and written with a superb simplicity. It's perfect for the young-at-heart.' DAILY MAIL

Marguerite had been living a comfortable but dull existence in a suburban town with her straitlaced lawyer husband. When he dies, she realises that life has passed her by. Marcel had been in a loving relationship with Nora since they left Algeria sixty years before. Now that he has lost her, he has lost his way. Marguerite and Marcel live in two very different worlds - one rich, one poor. They never should have met. And yet their paths cross at a retreat, and a connection forms... But will they manage to overcome the disapproval of their friends and families, as well as their own misgivings? Or have they left it too late to really follow their hearts' desires? Now Let's Dance is an uplifting, life-affirming novel about following your heart's desire.