Oliver Matuschek s brilliant Three Lives: a biography of Stefan Zweig is the only biography available in English of Stefan Zweig, one of the most famous authors of the pre-war era, whose colourful and tragic life ended in a suicide pact with his wife in 1944.
My Three Lives was Stefan Zweig's working title for his work The World of Yesterday, also published by Pushkin Press, and here Matuschek uses the title to reference the three major phases in Zweig's life-the years of apprenticeship, the years of success as a professional working writer in Salzburg, and finally the years of exile in Britain, the USA and Brazil. Drawing on a wealth of newly available sources, Matuschek recounts the eventful life of a writer spoilt by success, which changed direction under the influence of contemporary events, and ended tragically in a suicide pact with his second wife Lotte.
Oliver Matuschek studied politics and modern history, has co- authored several documentaries and was employed at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig from 2000 2004. He has published numerous works, most recently I Know the Magic of Writing: Catalogue and History of the Autograph Collection of Stefan Zweig (2005).
