Slaughterhouse-Five

50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION As a young man and a prisoner of war, Kurt Vonnegut witnessed the 1945 US fire-bombing of Dresden in Germany, which reduced the once proudly beautiful city to rubble and claimed the lives of thousands of its citizens. For many years, Kurt tried to write about Dresden but the words would not come. When he did write about it, he combined his trademark humour, unfettered imagination, boundless humanity and keen sense of irony to create one of the most powerful anti-war books every written, and an enduring American classic. This special edition is published with notes of appreciation from some of the book's ardent fans (Kate Atkinson, Richard Herring, Robin Ince) as well as fascinating extra material from Vonnegut's archive which casts light on the genesis, reception and enduring influence of an iconic American classic. First published by Jonathan Cape in 1970, Slaughterhouse Five is a keystone title on the Vintage Classics list. Slaughterhouse Five was Vonnegut's first mainstream success, staying in US bestseller charts for 3 months, and reaching the top 10 in the UK charts. One of our bestselling Classics - sold over 500,000 copies across all editions and the VC edition sells around 28,000 copies per yearThis handsome new hardback edition celebrates the 1969 first publication of Kurt Vonnegut's most famous novelVonnegut's diverse fans include Salman Rushdie, John Green, David Mitchell, Kate Atkinson, JK Rowling, Elizabeth Strout, Charlie Brooker, Richard Herring, Ernest Cline, Tim Minchin, Haruki Murakami and many, many more. Anniversary edition will feature original reviews and archive material, and appreciations from the book's famous fans