The Glass Bead Game, for which Hesse won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, is the author's last and crowning achievement, the most imaginative and prophetic of all his novels. Setting the story in the distant postapocalyptic future, Hesse tells of an elite cult of intellectuals who play an elaborate game that uses all the cultural and scientific knowledge of the Ages.The Glass Bead Gameis a fascinating tale of the complexity of modern life as well as a classic of modern literature. This edition features a Foreword by Theodore Ziolkowski that places the book in the full context of Hesse's thought. Hermann Hessewas born in Germany in 1877 and later became a citizen of Switzerland. As a Western man profoundly affected by the mysticism of Eastern thought, he wrote many novels, stories, and essays that bear a vital spiritual force that has captured the imagination and loyalty of many generations of readers. His works includeSteppenwolf,Narcissus and Goldmund, andThe Glass Bead Game. Hesse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. He died in 1962. The final novel of Hermann Hesse,The Glass Bead Game,is a fascinating tale of the complexity of modern life as well as a classic of modern literature. Set in the twenty-third century,The Glass Bead Gameis the story of Joseph Knecht, who has been raised in Castilla, the remote place his society has provided for the intellectual elite to grow and flourish. Since childhood, Knecht has been consumed with mastering the Glass Bead Game, which required a synthesis of aesthetics and philosophy, which he achieves in adulthood, becoming a Magister Ludi (Master of the Game). "The Glass Bead Game, then, is indispensable for a complete understanding of Hesse's thought."Theodore Ziolkowski, from the Foreword