Hoberman’s research is breathtaking, but it’s his persuasive mastery of the political and aesthetic currents shaping the films he discusses, his wit and generosity as a writer, his great passion for Yiddish culture–all the more potent for the seriousness, reticence and dignity of its expression–that makes this book not only the authoritative history of Yiddish cinema, but a deeply moving and intellectually exciting portrait of the hardscrabble, perilous worlds whence those beautiful films emerged. I cherish Bridge of Light as a powerful act of illuminating.