The Nutcracker

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.

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, for Penguin Classics.