Buddenbrooks

Buddenbrooks

The Decline of a Family

Summary

Thomas Mann's first great novel, written at the age of 25, is an epic study of decadence among the merchant families of Hamburg at the end of the nineteenth century. The novel is based on Mann's own experience as the son of a German merchant prince, but it goes far beyond his own experience in its sweep and comprehensiveness.

About the author

Thomas Mann

Thomas Mann (1875-1955) was the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His first major novel, Buddenbrooks, had sold over a million copies in Germany alone before it was banned and burned by Hitler.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more