Two novellas of rare energy, "The Spider's Web" and "Zipper and His Father" are filled with Joseph Roth's surprising political foresight and compassionate sensitivity to the tremors of a world on the brink of collapse. "The Spider's Web" paints a chillingly realistic picture of the conspiracies that paved the way for the rise of Hitler. "Zipper and His Father" chronicles the progress of a father and son through the febrile world of German cinema in...