Booker-nominated Colm Tóibín is at the height of his powers in this exhilarating novel of the twentieth century. The Magician tells the story of Thomas Mann, whose life was filled with great acclaim and contradiction. He would find himself on the wrong side of history in the First World War, cheerleading the German army, but have a clear vision of the future in the second, anticipating the horrors of Nazism. Through one life, Colm Tóibín tells the breathtaking story of the twentieth century.