film The Assault (1986), based on his book of the same title (1982). It received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best foreign movie and has been translated into more than twenty languages. His novel The Discovery of Heaven (1992) is considered his masterpiece, and was voted "the best Dutch-language book ever" by Dutch readers in a 2007 newspaper poll. "It is the book that shaped our generation; it made us love, even obsess, with reading", said Peter-Paul Spanjaard, 32, a lawyer in Amsterdam at the time of Mulisch's death. It was filmed in 2001 as The Discovery of Heaven by Jeroen Krabbé, starring Stephen Fry. Among the many awards he received for individual works and his total body of work, the most important is the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren (Prize of Dutch Literature, a lifetime achievement award) in 1995. Themes in his work A frequent theme in his work is the Second World War. His father had worked for the Germans during the war and went to prison for three years afterwards. As the war spanned most of Mulisch's formative phase, it had a defining influence on his life and work. In 1963, he wrote a non-fiction work about the Eichmann case: Criminal Case 40/61. Major works set against the backdrop of the Second World War are De Aanslag (The Assault), Het stenen bruidsbed, and Siegfried. Mulisch often incorporated ancient legends or myths in his writings, drawing on Greek mythology (e.g. in De Elementen), Jewish mysticism (in De ontdekking van de Hemel and De Procedure), well known urban legends and politics (Mulisch was politically left-wing, once signing a book "dedicated in admiration" to Fidel Castro). Mulisch's works are widely read. In 1984 he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in Leiden, The Netherlands, under the title: Het Ene (the unifying principle). Bibliography Archibald Strohalm (1952; novel) Tussen hamer en aambeeld ("Between hammer and anvil", 1952; novella) Chantage op het leven ("Blackmail on life", 1953; short story) De Diamant ("The Diamond", 1954; novel) De Sprong der Paarden en de Zoete Zee ("The Jump of Horses and the Sweet Sea", 1955; novel) Het mirakel ("The miracle", 1955; short stories) Het Zwarte licht ("The Black Light", 1957; novel) Manifesten ("Manifestos", 1958; essays) Het Stenen Bruidsbed ("The Stone Bridal Bed", 1959; novel) Tanchelijn (1960; play) De knop ("The button", 1961; play) Voer voor Psychologen ("Food for psychologists", 1961; autobiography) Wenken voor de bescherming van