E.T.A Hoffmann

The Nutcracker is well-loved by many, and is perhaps best known as the inspiration for Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet performed as a favourite Christmas spectacle the world over. The ballet was based on a French retelling of the story, and Hoffmann’s German original is rarely translated in it’s entirety.

This version, published to celebrate the bicentenary of the tale’s first publication in 1816, includes the familiar tale of the young girl and her love for the enchanted Nutcracker – a Christmas gift from her Godfather – who leads the toy soldiers in a dramatic battle against the sinister Mouse King, and whisks her away to the Kingdom of Toys. But it also retains the original ‘story within the story’, The Tale of the Hard Nut, which explains how the poor Nutcracker came to be.

70 full colour illustrations
144 pages
5 language editions world wide