A solo-trip in 1889 took Karl May via the Near Orient and Ceylon all the way to Sumatra, Indonesia. Upon his return journey, he met his first wife and friends, another couple, in Egypt to travel there. Only towards the end of his life did he manage to visit the eastern part of the United States. But in his imagination, in his mind’s eye, this prolific writer roamed the globe!
Except for Greenland, Australia and Antarctica, his many novels and short stories took place on every continent. He researched the locations very well, where his heroes and characters, his alter egos, Old Shatterhand and Kara Ben Nemsi, and his friends, Winnetou and Hajji Halef Omar, as well as many others, some named, some unnamed, performed their various deeds. For this he relied on travelogues and research of people who had visited the respective areas.
Some of Karl May’s characters, Old Shatterhand, Winnetou and Sam Hawkens, and locales, like the Wild West, Southeast Asia, Arabia, North Africa, Egypt, the Caribbean, the Bering Sea, South Africa and the Indian Ocean, are featured in this collection of fifteen short stories.

This book is the final part of the Winnetou trilogy. It is a fascinating look at the Wild West, seen through the eyes of a unique author who made it his mission to hold up a mirror so that we might see ourselves and realize who we are.
Winnetou, the Apache Chief, who sacrificed his life for the sake of white settlers, is another symbolic reminder that we all live and die upon this one earth we all share. What good is war and killing? What good is greed and avarice? In the end, we must all depart this world with empty pockets, leaving but a memory of who we once were.
Karl May meant to tell us that we must do what we can whilst we live, for after death, we are powerless.
The tale of Winnetou describes an ideological journey of a Native American, culminating in an inner struggle and final acceptance of a teaching so foreign to him. The reader is left pondering the legacy that Winnetou wished to bestow upon his brethren, both red and white. What might that last testament have said and what hope was torn asunder and cast into the wind? As the last remnants of this lost document molder out there on the once great plains, we are asked to recognize ourselves. Are we like Santer or like Winnetou? Do we love our fellow man or only ourselves?

“Now revenge drives me away from you,” Winnetou had said, “but affection will bring us together again.
But would it? Would Winnetou succeed in finding Santer and avenging the murders of his father Intshu–tshuna and his beautiful sister Nsho–tshi? Would the two blood brothers ever meet again in that vast, raw land
It seemed an outside chance at best and now Old Shatterhand, on his way to his homeland to visit his parents was shipwrecked in a violent hurricane on the jagged rocks just off Fort Jefferson leaving him with nothing but his life. This now was all but impossible.
Not wanting to be a burden to his friends back in St. Louis, Old Shatterhand opted to make his own fresh start, to get back on his feet. Where better than in New York, to where the people of Fort Jefferson had arranged free passage for him?
The book bristles with action and hair-raising adventure from a death-defying rescue through the flames of an oil fire in the New Venango oil fields to the Comanche slaughter at the hands of the Apache under the mighty Winnetou, finally standing shoulder to shoulder with the giant, Old Firehand against the white chief Parranoh and his Ponca tribe.
The tables are turned on Old Shatterhand and Winnetou when the trader to whom they are seeking to sell Old Firehand’s furs, turns out to be none other than the evil and elusive Santer.
Karl May has once again produced a blockbuster of an adventure tale to inspire people both young and old in a manner only a master storyteller can.

Karl May wrote Winnetou IV—his last Winnetou book—in 1909-1910 under the influence of his American journey in 1908. May and his wife Klara arrived by ship in New York, where they saw the Statue of Liberty, visited the Museum of Natural History and other places of interest. They continued their journey by boat up the Hudson River to Albany and further to Buffalo by railroad. In Buffalo Klara took a photo of Karl May next to the statue of the Indian chief Sa-go-ye-wat-ha.
From Buffalo they traveled to Niagara Falls, where they checked into the Clifton Hotel, which was on the Canadian side of the border. Karl May’s description of the Clifton and the breakfast there is a true and unique record he penned of his journey. The Clifton Hotel was where Karl May met with the fictional brothers, Harriman and Sebulon Enters, characters of his story.
The close-by Tuscarora Indian Reservation was visited and another photo of Karl May with a member of the tribe posing at a wigwam was taken by Klara. From Niagara Falls the Mays traveled to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to visit an old school mate of Karl’s. The scenery around Lake Kanubi, the Rock, and the Devil’s Pulpit provided May with an authentic background for scenes in his novel. Lawrence Council members organized a lecture by Karl May, which appeared in the local Evening Tribune
“World-renowned writer claims that the United States must become the great World power, which God and nature has destined it to be.”

In this second book of the Satan and Iscariot trilogy, the story begun in The Rock Castle continues. Winnetou and Old Shatterhand try to find out what has happened to the missing German immigrants and, at the same time, pursue the criminal mastermind Harry Melton and his cohorts. The trail leads into the middle of the Sierra Madre mountains , as they try to find the Rock Castle and discover its secrets. Finally justice prevails, only to be blinded once again by Melton’s friends and family, and this takes Winnetou and Old Shatterhand through the San Francisco of the 1880’s and on to Germany. Finally they find themselves in various precarious situations in the deserts of Tunisia, in pursuit of the Swindler of the Miilions, a pursuit that will culminate in the final book of Satan and Iscariot, to be published in 2009.

A solo-trip in 1889 took Karl May via the Near Orient and Ceylon all the way to Sumatra, Indonesia. On his return, he met his first wife and a couple of friends, in Egypt to travel there. Only towards the end of his life did he manage to visit the eastern part of the United States.
But in his imagination, in his mind’s eye, this prolific writer roamed the globe! Except for Greenland, Australia and Antarctica, his many novels and short stories take place on every continent. He researched the locations very well, where his heroes and characters, his alter egos, Old Shatterhand and Kara Ben Nemsi, and his friends, Winnetou and Hadshi Halef Omar, as well as many others, some named, some unnamed, performed their various deeds. For this, he relied on travelogues and the research of people who had visited the respective areas.
Some of these characters, Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, and locales, like the Wild West, North & Northeast Africa, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, are featured in this collection of fifteen short stories. Even the prototype of Winnetou, before he was called by this name, will be found here by the name of Inn-nu-woh.

Agnes’ fate is far from unique in human history. What makes it meaningful to record is the time – the twentieth century; the place – central Europe; and the until then held opinion, considering Europe to be part of the civilized world.
Changes which Agnes saw in her life do not repeat often during one generation. Her early life was still spent in the Old Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, she experienced World War One, saw a new state of Czechoslovakia coming into existence, its consequent destruction by the Nazis, lived through World War Two, followed by capture of power by communists with resulting Stalin’s tyranny.
Whilst life stories of prominent and important people, dictators and common criminals, are being published in the thousands, we rarely read what happens to ordinary men and women in the course of their lives. Agnes was one of them. Her life was derailed from normality by political events around her, and by abandonment by her husband.
Agnes often compared herself to Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, who waited faithfully for her long-lost husband. When Odysseus returned home, he stayed with his long suffering wife. When Agnes’ husband returned home after more years than Odysseus had been away, he discarded Agnes. Yet Agnes never gave up her moral principles, her belief there is goodness in people, never did any harm to others, helped them whenever it was in her power. Such people are rare, and mostly remain unknown to the rest of us.
Human feelings have not changed since the times of ancient Greeks. Despite of all the painful experience, Penelope, at the dawn of recorded history, and Agnes, living in our times, had the same feeling towards another human being. Perhaps there is hope for us still left.
The image of the Miramar Castle Agnes visited in her youth, stayed with her for the rest of her life. It represented in her mind the nicer side of life, life she has not been privileged to experience.

‘Along Unfamiliar Trails’ follows our entrepid narrator around the world. Within these pages we are transported to reindeer tents of Lappland, the camps of the Kurds in the trackless mountains of the Ottoman Empire. We stumble across the sands of the Sahara and rest in the Beduin camps before exploring the Wild West of the American Indians. In all of these wild and wonderful places, loyal friends such as Winnetou and Hajji Halef Omar, are always at his side. Journey now through these nine short stories of adventure.

Saiva tyalem, Die Boer van hat Roer, Er Raml el Helahk, Blood Feud, The Kutb, The Kys-Kaptchiji, Mary or Fatima, God will not be mocked, A Blizzard

Old Surehand is the name given to one of Karl May’s foremost Wild West heroes. In these pages you discover the dramatic tale of his life, which drove him restlessly across the prairie. His encounter with Indian tribes on the warpath and his trek across the arid reaches of the Llano Estacado keep the reader spellbound. Here too is a lesson for our own tumultuous time. One can avoid conflict with the truth. Read how Old Surehand with the help of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand struggle against the evil intentions of the ‘General’

Mr. Michalak continues his epic translation work assuring that Karl May’s humanitarian legacy will be available to an English speaking world.
Karl May’s Autobiography is a tale of anguish and horror and is an indictment of man’s inhumanity to man. It is also a journey from the morasses of the deepest and darkest Ardistan up towards the bright and shining Jinnistan, where the souls of the noble spirited people abide.
We have a long way to go before we reach that place of sublime bliss where a being is his neighbor’s angel. We are mired in this swamp of hate, this hell of our own creation for no other reason than our fear of the Forest of Kulub and the terrible ‘Spirit Forge’ that lies within.
Two thousand years ago, one man dared to enter it. He died brutally, nailed to a cross for the sins of all mankind. Whilst Karl May is not a Saint, he did have the right idea. He recognized our inhumanity and he strove to give us a second warning. Here in these pages, he explains his life and his self imposed mission.