Emil Sinclair is tormented by a constant battle between light and dark, purity and corruption, ignorance and knowledge. As a restless young man, he struggles to locate a path towards acceptance and serenity. Only under the friendship and guidance of the charismatic, otherworldly Max Demian does he discover an alternative way to think, and to live.Demian transforms a young man's coming-of-age story into a profoundly moving narrative of internal conflict and self-realization.

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) was born in Württemberg, Germany. He resented his pious and repressive upbringing, and was determined to be "a writer or nothing else". His writing was greatly influenced by his travels to Asia and through his friendship with psychoanalyst Carl Jung. In 1946 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Several of his novels are available or forthcoming from Pushkin Press Classics, including Siddartha, Narcissus and Goldmund and Journey to the East.