The Black Brothers: A Novel in Pictures - Tapa dura

In the middle of the 19th century, many young men were sent to Milan to work as slaves. Their lives were extremely difficult and many died from the harsh conditions. But Giorgio was able to survive because of the friendship and solidarity he experienced with a secret band known as "the black brothers." Some 100 years later, Lisa Tetzner and her husband Kurt Held wrote about Giorgio's experiences and adventures, and recently the accomplished artist Hannes Binder resurrected the text and added dramatic and impressive engravings, turning the final product into this exciting graphic novel.

Lisa Tetzner (1894-1963) In 1941, Lisa Tetzner and her husband, Kurt Held, authored DIE SCHWARZEN BRUDER under the pseudonym, Liza Tetzners, because as an imigrant he was not permitted to write. Hannes Binder was born in 1947. He studied art at a college of arts and crafts in Zurich, worked as a commerical artist in Milan, and then as an illustrator and commercial artist in Hamburg. Today he lives in Zurich again and works as a freelance illustrator and painter. Fifty years after the publication of DIE SCHWARZEN BRUDER, Hannes Binder, retold the story in graphic format (the original text is 500 pages), creating illustrations based on his study of the period. Binder's "Roman in Bildern" (novel in pictures) was published in 2002 to high praise in Germany by Verlag Sauerlander. The story is also the subject of a television series in Japanimation. Peter F. Neumeyer (translator) is a children's book author and reviewer. He lives in Kensington, CA. He translated two books by the award-winning German author/illustrator, Quint Buchholz: SLEEP WELL, LITTLE BEAR (FSG 1994) and THE COLLECTOR OF MOMENTS (FSG 1999) of which the PUBLISHERS WEEKLY reviewer wrote "aided greatly by Neumeyer's fluid translation.""