The Treasure of Silver Lake

The Treasure of Silver Lake is one of Karl May’s most popular books. The bandits are preparing for a major heist. First they want to steal the wages of the lumberjacks at the Black Bear Creek. Then they want to raid a rich farm in Kansas on their way to robbing a railway station that has money for the construction of the Union Railways. Their final target is the Silver Lake that hides an immense treasure. Old Firehand, who is also heading to the Silver Lake to open a mine there, is determined to foil the bandits’ plans. He recruits many famous Westerners for his quest. By the time the group arrives to the edge of Kansas, Winnetou, the chief of the Apache, joins them, and fights alongside Old Firehand. To reach the Silver Lake they have to go to Colorado where the Ute tribes are on the warpath. This is when Old Shatterhand and his friends appear, and after four duels for life or death, they unite with Old Firehand’s group. They all go to the Silver Lake together. This unabridged English translation retains the exciting adventures, and the strong moral conviction of May’s original book, while modernising the style, and editing parts that were erroneous or may evoke bad associations. With this editing the core of May’s world, the action, the dreaming of heroic deeds, and the struggle for a kind of justice have become more emphasised, and more accessible to the modern reader.