Retracing Alexander the Great's conquest of the East, the author of Mephisto suggests that childhood disappointments and failed friendships spurred the Macedonian general to seek both victories and the admiration of those whom he has defeated. Eventually, though, Alexander will be tempted to embrace the customs of the nations he invades, and in his final hours he experiences a mystical vision. This 1929 novel is by Thomas Mann's son, Klaus Mann (1906–49), later stripped of his German citizenship for his open homosexuality and his criticism of the Nazi regime. Mann's peer Jean Cocteau contributes a poetic foreword to this edition.