Published over a ten-year period between the years 1933 and 1943 while the writer was in exile, Thomas Mann’s Joseph and his Brothers is an epic four-part novel that works as a retelling of chapters twenty-one to thirty of the Book of Genesis. Described as a “Mythological novel”, It took Mann over sixteen years to write the novel and was considered by the writer as his greatest ever literary achievement.
in this second volume subtitled ‘Young Joseph’, Mann shifts his focus to Joseph’s formative years, moving towards the novel’s ultimate conclusion where he is imprisoned by his brothers and sold into slavery.
Deploying Mann’s signature capacity for incredible, often mesmerising detail, Joseph and His Brothers brings to life a world of mythology and legend, set within the ancient kingdoms of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine. The result is an impressive, awe-inspiring work of psychological depth – one that is replete with historical detail, ironic humour, and breathtaking grandeur.
This recording is based on John E. Woods definitive English translation, providing an authoritative retelling that is worthy of Mann’s landmark work.