Il gattopardo

'Il Gattopardo' (previously translated inaccurately as 'Der Leopard', now published by Piper since 2004 as 'Der Gattopardo') is the only novel by Tomasi di Lampedusa, which was published posthumously in 1958. It is considered the most significant Italian novel of the post-war period and has achieved worldwide success, with over 700,000 copies sold in Germany alone. The film adaptation by Luchino Visconti (1963), featuring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, and Alain Delon, has certainly contributed to this success. The story centers on the decline of the Sicilian princely house of Salina against the backdrop of a tumultuous time when "everything must change so that everything can stay the same": the period of the Risorgimento and the unification of Italy. This is an unabridged and unedited text edition in the original language, with translations of difficult words at the bottom of each page, as well as an afterword and literary references.