8 h 13 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 13 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man across the card table wants more than your money—he wants control of your mind?
In Norbert Jacques’s Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, Germany after the First World War is gripped by inflation, fear and restless pleasure. Mabuse moves through this shaken world in disguise: a doctor, gambler and hypnotist with a hidden criminal network. At the card table, rich young Edgar Hull becomes one of his targets.
State prosecutor Wenk senses a single mind behind a string of strange crimes. He follows facts and patient detail; Mabuse relies on surprise and the power to bend other people’s wills. Their struggle drives a fast crime story through a city where trust wears thin, appearances deceive, and the hunger for thrills leaves people exposed.
What you’ll discover
- A criminal with many faces Meet a master of disguise whose shifting identities make him hard to pin down.
- Patience against surprise Follow Wenk as he brings careful attention to crimes shaped by a ruthless opponent.
- More than a card game Watch gambling become a test of power, with Edgar Hull among the easy marks.
- A city hungry for thrills Enter a world where fear and restless pleasure sit close together.
- Quick scenes, sharp turns Feel the pace of a thriller that gives uncertainty little time to settle.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy pursuit stories with disguises, secret hideouts and night drives will love this book, as will those drawn to Weimar Germany, early psychology and hypnosis.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stranger takes Hull's will at cards
- Two men named Balling and a nervous prosecutor
- Wenk hunts the blond-bearded banker at Schramm's
- The Chinese glasses and the ride to Schleissheim
- Mabuse's private state and his dream of Eitopomar
- The Fort gambling house and the murder of Hull
- The countess in prison and the ruin of Count Told
- Money and chance have taken over a whole nation
- Will, hypnosis and desire drive both hunter and hunted
- How the book is told, from chase to night raid
Who’s who
- WenkA Munich state prosecutor who leaves a comfortable career to fight gambling fever and sets out to catch the man behind it.
- Dr. MabuseA psychiatrist who is also a master of disguise and hypnosis, and who runs a criminal empire to pay for a kingdom in Brazil.
- HullA wealthy, easygoing young man who loses a fortune at cards without knowing why and becomes the prosecutor's first witness.
- Countess Dusy ToldA bored aristocrat who seeks danger in gambling houses and offers herself as Wenk's helper, then falls under Mabuse's power.
- Count ToldThe countess's gentle husband, a collector of modern art who is ruined at a card table he never meant to cheat at.
- Cara CarozzaA dancer who leads victims to the gambling rooms and is bound to Mabuse by a love she cannot give up.
- SpoerriA Swiss smuggler who serves Mabuse with fear and loyalty and carries out his orders on the border.
- GeorgMabuse's chauffeur and inventor, who drives the doctor's cars and boats and goes by many names.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
El doctor Mabuse, el jugador in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
El doctor Mabuse, el jugador
by Norbert Jacques · 1921
Hull holds twenty-one yet throws away his cards, and a Munich prosecutor hunts the gaze behind it.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
Aprende un idioma con clásicos de nivel mediumEspañolFrancésAlemánItalianoJaponésPortuguésInglésCómo medimos los niveles
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would you do if your own voice told a lie at the card table, and your hand obeyed it? That is what happens to a young man named Hull in Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler.
El doctor Mabuse, el jugador de un vistazo
- Tiempo de lectura
- Unas 5 h 15 min4 h 10 min fast, 6 h 15 min slow
- Duración
- 75.200 palabras
- Nivel en la biblioteca
- Mediano longer sentences, everyday words
- Primera publicación
- 1921by Norbert Jacques
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Cuánto se tarda en leer los clásicos · Actualizado
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger takes Hull's will at cards
The book opens in a Munich gaming club. An elegant old gentleman with a white pearl stickpin sits down to play twenty-one. He gives his name as Balling. Young Hull, heir to an industrial fortune, has brought him along.
Balling takes the bank, and Hull begins to lose. In the last round Hull shouts va banque and sees twenty-one. Then something inside him flings the cards face down and cries that he has lost. Balling's gray eyes flare, and he says only that it is too late.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Has visto
¿Qué edición es la adecuada para mí?
- 15-minute summary
- Las ideas clave de todo el libro en unos 14 minutos. Una buena introducción o un repaso.
Detalles
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- Español
- Reading time
- 5 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cita esta edición
Jacques, Norbert. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/dr-mabuse-the-gambler.
Jacques, N. (2026). Dr. Mabuse, the gambler. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dr-mabuse-the-gambler (Original work published 1921)
Jacques, Norbert. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dr-mabuse-the-gambler.
@book{jacques2026dr,
author = {Jacques, Norbert},
title = {Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/dr-mabuse-the-gambler},
note = {First published 1921}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about El doctor Mabuse, el jugador
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler about?
It follows Wenk, a Munich state prosecutor, as he tracks a gambler who wins by controlling people's minds. The trail leads to Dr. Mabuse, a psychiatrist who runs a criminal network and dreams of founding his own kingdom.
Who is Dr. Mabuse in the novel?
Mabuse is a doctor of psychopathology with powerful hypnotic skills. He appears in many disguises, runs smuggling and gambling operations, and hides his real life behind a brass plate on a quiet Munich street.
What does Eitopomar mean in the book?
Eitopomar is the name Mabuse gives to the private kingdom he wants to found in the Brazilian forest. All the money he takes is meant to pay for it, and it shows his wish to rule without any state above him.
The author
Norbert Jacques
1880–1954 · Luxembourgish novelist and screenwriter
Norbert Jacques was a Luxembourgish novelist, journalist, and screenwriter who wrote in German. He was born in Eich, Luxembourg, in 1880 and later lived in Germany. His novel Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler was published in 1921. He died in Koblenz, Germany, in 1954.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
