W. G. Sebald (1944-2001) was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by many literary critics as one of the greatest living authors and had been tipped as a possible future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Sebald's works are largely concerned with the themes of memory and loss of memory (both personal and collective) and decay (of civilizations, traditions or physical objects). They are, in particular, attempts to reconcile himself with, and deal in literary terms with, the trauma of the Second World War and its effect on the German people.

His distinctive and innovative novels were written in an intentionally somewhat old-fashioned and elaborate German (one passage in Austerlitz famously contains a sentence that is 9 pages long), but are well known in English translations which Sebald supervised closely. The four novels included here -- The Emigrants (1996), The Rings of Saturn (1998), Vertigo (2001), and Austerlitz (2011, 10th anniversary edition) -- are notable for their curious and wide-ranging mixture of fact (or apparent fact), recollection and fiction, often punctuated by indistinct black-and-white photographs set in evocative counterpoint to the narrative rather than illustrating it directly. His novels are presented as observations and recollections made while traveling around Europe. They also have a dry and mischievous sense of humour.

In addition to the four novels, Campo Santo (a collection of essays, 2005) and Across the Land and the Water: Selected Poems, 1964-2001 (2012) are also included here.

“Sebald is a rare and elusive species... But still he is an easy read, just as Kafka is... He is an addiction, and, once button-holed by his books, you have neither the wish nor the will to tear yourself away.” -- Anthony Lane, New Yorker

All six books are EPUB format.

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* Across the Land and the Water: Selected Poems, 1964–2001, trans. Iain Galbraith (Random House, 2012). Poetry.

* Austerlitz, trans. Anthea Bell (Modern Library, 2011). Novel.

* Campo Santo, trans. Anthea Bell (Modern Library, 2005). Essays.

* The Emigrants, trans. Michael Hulse (New Directions, 1996). Novel.

* The Rings of Saturn, trans. Michael Hulse (New Directions, 1998). Novel.

* Vertigo, trans. Michael Hulse (New Directions, 2001). Novel.