This collection of three uncanny tales highlights the best of a 19th-century German author who is seen by many as the father of modern sci-fi and fantasy. In 'The Sandman', young Nathanael grows up terrified of a legendary figure who will steal his eyes if he's caught out of bed at night - but it's only when Nathanael has grown to adulthood, seemingly settled and happy, that the full, terrifying truth unfolds. A living doll, a series of doppelgangers, and the seeds of madness combine in this classic story of self-destruction.'The Cremona Violin' also deals with obsession and thwarted desire, this time between an overbearing father and a musically talented daughter who may die of heart failure if she unleashes the full power of her extraordinary voice. Suppressed passion and possessive control prove a fatal mix in this powerful and claustrophobic story. 'The Golden Pot', meanwhile, is a novella-length tale which Hoffmann believed was his masterpiece. Disturbing, exciting and dream-like, it introduces us to the bumbling Anselmus, whose romantic tribulations are complicated by a witch's curse and the fact that he's in love with a girl who also happens to be a snake.Influential in the worlds of both literature and music during his lifetime, Hoffmann's doppelgangers, unattainable love objects and sinister puppet masters have lived on, becoming key figures in the modern imagination.



Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822) was a writer, artist and composer, and one of the major figures of the German Romantic movement. Hoffmann qualified in law and held posts in the Prussian bureaucracy, moving between Berlin, Warsaw and smaller provincial cities. A tendency to dissolution and a scandal caused by his military caricatures hampered his official career, but his work as a writer and composer drew increasing praise and attention. Eventually, in 1814, he left employment so as to collaborate with theatre and opera companies, and from this point published his most famous collections of stories.Hoffmann's drinking kept pace with his renown, however, and he died of complications from syphilis and alcohol abuse aged only 46. His darkly imaginative works are still celebrated as foundational texts of modern sci-fi, fantasy and horror. His writing inspired Freud and has been adapted many times, notably in two famous ballets, The Nutcracker and Coppélia, and to create Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann.