The vanished way of life of Eastern European Jews in the early part of thetwentieth century is the subject of this extraordinary novel. All the strata ofthis co... » 

The vanished way of life of Eastern European Jews in the early part of thetwentieth century is the subject of this extraordinary novel. All the strata ofthis complex society were populated by powerfully individual personalities andthe whole community pulsated with life and vitality. The affairs of thepatriarchal Meshulam Moskat and the unworldly Asa Heshel Bannet provide thecenter of the book but its real focus is the civilization that was destroyedforever in the gas chambers of the Second World War. «