Primary Format: Cloth | |
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ISBN: | 9781512600490 |
Published: | 10/03/2017 |
Pages: | 312 |
Size: | 6.25 x 9.25 in. |
Subject(s): | History |
The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis
David E. Fishman
Paper: $24.95Cloth: $29.95
E-book: $24.99
"[A] work that is scholarly and intimate, descriptive and personal... First-rate scholarship that pulses with the beat of a most human heart."
Kirkus Reviews
[A] work that is scholarly and intimate, descriptive and personal. . . . First-rate scholarship that pulses with the beat of a most human heart.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
[A] gripping narrative. . . . Fishman narrates his story with verve and considerable literary skill, practising narrative history in the literal sense.
—Times Literary Supplement (UK)
Masterful prose. What a pleasure it is to have a good read, a first-rate history, and a new perspective on Jewish cultural resistance all wrapped up in one fascinating book.
—Jewish Book World
[A] fascinating new study.
—Forward
The immediate and unfiltered personal stories of the book smugglers make for a powerful read. They convey the timeless message that, even in the most extreme circumstances, we still have a choice, however minimal, about how to respond to existential threats.
—Wall Street Journal
Riveting and often heart-pounding. . . . [Fishman] writes with a historian’s precision, but also with an eye for character and detail that rises to the level of literature. . . . Essential reading for anyone who cares about books, Jewish history, and the capacity of individuals to defy mighty regimes to keep civilization alive.
—Aaron Lansky
An inspiring portrait of ghetto inmates’ courage and fidelity in response to the Nazi regime’s plundering of Jewish culture in occupied Vilna.
—Peter Hayes
As a Hungarian Jew I thought I knew a lot about the ghettos of Eastern Europe under the Nazis. David Fishman proved me wrong. His book brings fascinating new material to light. . . . It is a deeply researched work of a great scholar and a gripping, essential, and compelling read.
—Rafi Rohrig
A fascinating addition to the literature of the cultural devastation of World War II and its aftermath that illuminates the little-known saga of the courageous efforts to save the precious libraries, manuscripts, and archives of the Jews of Eastern Europe.
—Lynn Nicholas
e often forget that the Third Reich destroyed, in addition to a significant segment of the Jewish people, a treasure trove of Jewish cultural artifacts. The Book Smugglers tells the improbable story of the rescue of a portion of that trove—not once but twice.
—Deborah Lipstadt
DAVID E. FISHMAN teaches history at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. His involvement with the story recounted in The Book Smugglers began twenty-five years ago, when he was invited to consult on items discovered in a former church in Vilnius. He is the author of four scholarly monographs and one textbook.