TALES OF TRAVEL ADVENTURE AND SUSPENSE IN THE DESERT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01676R002600080017-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 22, 2002
• Sequence Number: 17
• Content Type: BOOK

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 -,a ApproAmdTc .Releas ,20 '3/WU --CIA- DP80 *6 ?R00 017-0
Born: 25th February 1842
in Hohenstein-Ernstthal
Died: 30th March 1912
in Radebeul, Saxony
TALES OF TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SUSPENSE
Karl May is one of the great masters of the pen. This series of breath-taking adventure
and suspense is in the classical tradition of Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Zane
Grey. The travels and exploits of Karl May's heroes cover the world as "Old Shatter-
hand" in the American West of the Seventies, as ,'Kara Ben Nemsi" in North-Africa and
the Middle East in the days of Abdul Ham d II and in other local guises in the Cor-
dilleras of South- and Central America. Split-second action and suspense are combined with
an impeccable moral tone, that have made these stories long-time favourites of parents,
teachers and the Clergy. Problems of sex are entirely absent. These are stories of men in
action against the hazards of nature or in collision with brutal opponents though conflicts
are always resolved on the basis of Christian ethics.
While publication statistics on reader interest and
age groups indicate a predominance of adolescents,
Karl May's magic is so complete that his works have
always been read by a high percentage of adults. This
master of the pen has kept reader interest at the
stupendous best-seller level- of 12 500 000 - twelve
and a half million copies sold, over the years.
The German publishers have developped circulation
data for decades, through a system of questionnaires
which reflect an accurate picture of reader interest
on the basis of age groups, business, social and cultural
characteristics. The questionnaires dealt initially with
two representative titles, ,,In the Desert" - the
volume of adventures in North-Africa and Arabia
and ?Treasure of the Silver Lake" - a juvenile, laid
in the Wild West. These two volumes are amongst the
most successful from the viewpoint of sales, one with
an aggregate of 430 000, the other with 630 000
copies, the maximum circulation for a single title.
USTAD-Verlag, Bamberg, and the
associate publisher in New York
desire to contribute to German-
American amity in the release of
selected German authors in English
Editions. It is planned to follow the
current volume "In the Desert" with
succeeding volumes in the same series.
The sequence, variety of titles and
impressive geographical and histori-
cal range of Karl May's collected
works comprise 65 separate titles, as
shown right.
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KARL MAY'S
COLLECTED WORKS
1 In She Desert
2 Old Kurdistan'
3 Baghdad to Istanbul
4 Balkan Canyons
5 Stara Planina
6 The Persian Smuggler
7 Winnetou I
8 Winnetou II
9 Winnetou III
10 Sands of Disaster
11 Sign of the Dragon
12 Rio de la Plata
13 In the Cordilleras
14 Old Surehand I
15 Old Surehand II
16 Land of the Mahdi
17 Father of Five Hundred
18 The Last Slave Hunt
19 Captain Caiman
20 The Cliff Castle
21 Kruger Bey
22 Satan and Iscariot
23 On Alien Trails
24 Wild West Christmas
25 Road to Mecca
26 The Avenger
27 Ruins of Babylon
28 Realm of the Silver Lion
29 The Petrified Prayer
30 Peace on Earth
31 Ardistan
32 Mir of Djinnistan
33 Winnctou`s Heirs
34 Personal Pronoun
35 Vultures of the Llanos
36 Treasure of the Silver Lake
37 The Oil Man
38 The Mestizo
39 The Inca Heritage
40 The Blue Red Methusalah
41 Slave Caravan
42 The Prince of Dessau
43 Forest Shadows
44 The Black Smuggler'
45 Scepter and Hammer
46 The Island of jewels
47 God of the Aztecs
48 The Magic Elixier
49 Heights at Dawn
50 Town of the Prophet
51 Castle ILodriganda --
52 The Sun God Pyramid
53 Benito Juarez
54 Trapper Hawknose
55 The Dying Emperor
56 The Road to Waterloo
57 Secret of the Marabout
58 The Spy of Ortry
59 Lords of Greifenklau
60 Allah it Allah!
61 The Dervish
62 In Death Valley
63 Fur-Hunter and Cossack
64 The Forest Specter
65 The Stranger from India
An appraisal of statistics, of course, must take cognizance of the violent
economic dislocation of the reading public, during World Wars I and II viz:
Craftsmen, Workers . . . . . . 15.7 9.0 3.9 5.9
White collar Group . . . . . . 20.3 12.0 7.8 8.2
Intellectuals Educators . 2.5 2.7 1.2 2.7
Military Personnel 2.7 0.4 0.2 -
Students, junior, male 38.6 56.5 68.3 72.5
Students, junior, female . 1.8 3.7 5.6 6.3
Women, miscel . . . 2.1 1.6 2.5 2.4
Unclassified . 16.3 14.1 11.5 2.0
Mature Persons
Adolescents
Unclassified
35.0 20.2 24.0 26.5
57.5 69.0 63.2 72.0
7.5 10.8 12.8 1.5
Previous readers . 43.7 45.1 34.6 50.3
Recommended Gifts . . . . . . 8.4 8.5 6.8 10.0
Christmas Gifts . . . 19.8 27.5 35.0 30.3
Occasional Gifts 12.0 10.8 20.4 7.0
Unclassified 16.1 8.1 3.2 3.4
Certain conclusions are fairly obvious: (1) A growing percentage of
adolescent readers. (2) Increasing trend of utilizing the Karl May books
as gifts. (3) Fair percentage of adults vis-a-vis adolescent readers. (4) The
books continue to sell and maintain a firm footing, suggesting recognition
of the moral and ethical tone of these stories.
That subtle appeal appears to be strongest in the youth group; it may
yet become a means to heal the wounds of war, to soften and diffuse
tragic recollections? That can best be accomplished by establishing a
fraternal bond between German and American youths, in the friendly realm
of impeccable literature, common to both. Said the Director of the
"United States Information Agency": "... A sharing of Karl May's beloved
stories with the English reading public impresses me as a promising move
toward the development of a fuller rapprochement between American
and German youth. This is indeed a worthy project ..."
An illustration from IN THE DESERT
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en u es
_.-
C'- To solid educational qualities must be added
=== high degree of moral and ethical nrn't-
ciples, as a refreshing toil to the moral and
svrhi- rl;ctrecc of nnr claw. Dr. Alfred
LJear . trs,
Years ago, as a little boy, I read my first
Karl May story: ,The Secret of the
Marabout". Someone told me then that, k
would soon outgrow thpie juvenile
That was seven years ago. I -si i'e grown
older and I have left juveniles behind me -
but Karl May has retained his hold on
me, more than any other writer.
I have followed Kara Ben Nemsi from the
plains of the Desert to the mountains of
Ustad, as if I were his inseparable com-
panion Hadji Halef Omar.
I have a feeling that these stories contain a
message - a deep inner meaning which I
seek to grasp. Karl May has come to mean
An illustration from IN THE DESERT become a spiritual guide and friend.
Lincerely
St. Louis 16 Jacob Tillinger
As late as February 1954, the Austrian Ministry of Missouri
Education is on record in an altogether favourable
appraisal of Karl May's work:
.. In view of the moral and cultural deterioration, in the wake of disastrous wars, -we recommend
the Karl May series for age groups from 12 to 18. Volumes 1 to 33, dealing with travel adventures,
offer not only first-rate entertainment but also substantial geographical and ethnographic information."
This is attested in comments by noted explorers viz. Prof. Dr. K. Guenther, Dr. W. Weisl and others.
The latter said: "Where I have crossed the tracks of Karl May, in my own explorations, I have
found men and milieu to be much the same as in my boyhood recollections of his fascinating stories."
USTAD-VERLAG ? BAMBERG ? NEW YORK
Approvet-+P8~We *dh 4f0 ) EI~i ?I, 0 OY6 0 100080017-0
.. Karl May's idealized heroes have
These views are confirmed by numerous
letters from America, of which the following
is typical:
Karl May Verlag October 13/1954
romg veritable friends and counsellors to
.--- millions of readers, in days of anguish and
sorrow, as no other figures in world litera-