The Nutcracker

The story that inspired the legendary ballet, presented in a beautiful hardcover edition perfect for giving as a gift.

Written in 1816 by the German Romantic E. T. A. Hoffmann for his children, nephews, and nieces, The Nutcracker captures better than any other story a child's wonder at Christmas. Since its publication, it has inspired hundreds of artists and adaptations, most notably the legendary ballet, scored by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Today, the story—and its enchanting images of sugar plums and nutcrackers, mistletoe and the Kingdom of the Dolls—continues to cast its fantastical spell on readers of all ages.

E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) was one of the major figures of European Romanticism, specializing in tales of the fantastic and uncanny. He was also a music critic, jurist, composer, and caricaturist. His Tales of Hoffmann includes such masterpieces as Mademoiselle de Scudery, one of the earliest examples of crime fiction, and Hoffmann's terrifying version of The Sandman.

Joachim Neugroschel won three PEN translation awards and the French-American Foundation Translation Prize. He translated Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and Sacher-Masoch's Venus in Furs, among other works.