Joseph and His Brothers (German: Joseph und seine Brüder, pronounced [ˈjoːzɛf ʊnt ˌzaɪ̯nə ˈbʁyːdɐ]) is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph (chapters 27–50), setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period. Mann considered it his greatest work.
Paul Thomas Mann (UK: /ˈmæn/ MAN, US: /ˈmɑːn/ MAHN; German: [ˈtoːmas ˈman] ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas are noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual. His analysis and critique of the European and German soul used modernized versions of German and Biblical stories, as well as the ideas of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Arthur Schopenhauer.
Mann was a member of the hanseatic Mann family and portrayed his family and class in his first novel, Buddenbrooks (1901). Late major novels include The Magic Mountain (1924), the tetralogy Joseph and His Brothers (1933–1943), and Doctor Faustus (1947); he also wrote short stories and novellas, including Death in Venice (1912).