'I finished it in one sitting. Probably for the tenth time... it carries me along waves of wonder' Franz Kafka MICHAEL KOHLHAAS HAS BEEN WRONGED. HE WILL HAVE VENGEANCE. Based on the real life of an ordinary horse-dealer cheated by a state official, Michael Kohlhaas is a brutal story of alienation from a corrupt system. When his attempts to claim his rights are thwarted by bureaucracy and nepotism, Kohlhaas vows to take justice into his own - increasingly bloody - hands. Will he be remembered as a dangerous enemy of the peace, or a vigilante hero? Praised by Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann, Susan Sontag, Roberto Bolańo, Werner Herzog, and J. M. Coetzee, this is one of the most influential tales in German literature. In this vital new translation by the renowned poet Michael Hofmann, it feels increasingly urgent today.