| Every Man Dies Alone | |
|---|---|
First American edition 2009 |
|
| Author(s) | Hans Fallada |
| Translator | Michael Hofmann |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre(s) | Fiction |
| Publisher | Melville House Publishing |
| Publication date | 1947 |
| Published in English |
2009 |
Every Man Dies Alone or Alone in Berlin (German: Jeder stirbt für sich allein) is a 1947 novel by German author Hans Fallada. It is based on the true story of a working class husband and wife, Otto and Elise Hampel, who committed acts of civil disobedience in Berlin during World War II before being caught, tried by infamous Nazi judge Roland Freisler, and executed in Plötzensee Prison. Fallada's book was one of the first anti-Nazi novels to be published by a German after World War II. Primo Levi said it is "the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis."[1]
The novel remained untranslated to English until 2009 when it was rediscovered by American publishing house Melville House Publishing and released in the US under the title Every Man Dies Alone,[1][2] in a translation by Michael Hofmann. Melville House licensed it to Penguin Books in the UK, who used the title Alone in Berlin, following the older French translation precedent of Seul dans Berlin.[3] The German title translates literally as "Everyone dies for himself alone".[4]
The film rights have been acquired by Vincent Perez and Stefan Arndt.[5]
Three months after its 2009 English release it became a "surprise bestseller" in both the US and UK [5] It was listed on the official UK Top 50 for all UK publishers, a rare occurrence for such an old book.[5] Hans Fallada's 80-year-old son, Ulrich Ditzen, a retired lawyer, told The Observer he was overwhelmed by the latest sales, "It's a phenomenon." [5]