In the nineteenth century, in the hands of such writers as Heinrich von Kleist and E.T.A. Hoffmann, the short story established itself as one of the most expressive and characteristic genres in German literature. Twentieth-century authors such as Arthur Schnitzler, Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka continued to deepen and strengthen the tradition. New five German short stories--each a well-known pinnacle of the author's art--have been specially chosen for this dual-language edition. For each selection, Stanley Appelbaum has supplied complete literal English translations on facing pages, along with an introduction to each story and a foreword outlining the evolution of the German short-story genre.