Three Lives: A Biography of Stefan Zweig

"It will definitely be regarded as the authoritative Stefan Zweig biography in the future."—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

This is the authorized biography of the world-famous Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It includes the sort of personal detail conspicuously absent from Zweig's memoir The World of Yesterday, offering us a glimpse into the private world of this master of psychological insight. Drawing on a wealth of sources held by the Zweig estate, to which Oliver Matuschek had unique access, he recounts the eventful life of a writer spoilt by success, which changed direction under the influence of contemporary events and ended tragically in a suicide pact with his second wife Lotte. The title Three Lives refers to the three major phases in Zweig's life—his years of apprenticeship, his years of success as a professional "working writer" in Salzburg, and finally his years of exile in Britain, the United States, and Brazil.

Oliver Matuschek studied politics and modern history, has co-authored several documentaries, and has published numerous works, most recently I Know the Magic of Writing: Catalogue and History of the Autograph Collection of Stefan Zweig (2005).