Letters to Auntie Fori by Martin Gilbert

Letters to Auntie Fori by Martin Gilbert

Some time ago an elderly Indian friend of Martin Gilbert's, known to him as Auntie Fori, revealed that she was actually Jewish and asked him to recommend a history of the Jews. He decided to write it for her, in letter form, week by week, which he did. This book is the result. The letters begin with Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to Canaan and covers all the great events of Jewish history: the migration to Egypt, entering the Promised Land, Moses and the Ten Commandments, the kingdoms of David and Solomon, the Assyrian destruction of Jewish independence, and so on through ancient and medieval times up to the present day. As one would expect, he writes particularly well - and movingly - about the Holocaust. The last couple of letters in this section are about the modern state of Israel. A final section of letters describes significant aspects of Jewish faith and worship: such as the Jewish New Year, the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath, the synagogue, the rabbi, the Torah, dietary laws, marriage, the menorah (candelabrum), and so on.

Martin Gilbert will be giving a talk at Stern Hall on 27 JuneWe're expecting widespread reviews for this fantastic book and these are now starting to come in, with a great review by Malcolm Rifkind in New Statesman plus the following: "...a series of letters, 140 in all, outlining the history of the Jews from Old Testament times to the present and the principal rites and festivals of the Jewish religion. Taken together, along with some excellent maps, they form his new book... The tone is warm and conversational with frequent personal touches... he will have no truck with the idea that suffering is somehow the definition of the story. Instead he insists on resilience, recuperation, creative achievements and the long stretches of time when life just went onin the usual way."John Gross, Sunday Telegraph "An introduction as useful asany I know." The Guardian "As a literary device, the letter form works surprisingly well... Gilbert loves stories and tells them well... There are many Jewish histories, but this is the most engaging I have read." Jonathan Sacks, The Times "...this is a good introducation to the content of Jewish traditions and the history of the Jews from a point of view within that tradition."Robin Banerji, Daily Telegraph "This is the most delightful, engaging, slightly idiosyncratic accounts of Jews and Judaism that I have ever read." Julia Neube

Born in 1936, Sir Martin Gilbert is one of Britain's leading historians, known particularly for his biography of Winston Churchill, his books on the first and second world wars, and his many books on 20th-century Jewish history and the Holocaust. He was knighted in 1995.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780297607403
ISBN 10	0297607405
Titel	Letters to Auntie Fori
Autor	Martin Gilbert
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Hardback
Verlag	Orion Publishing Co
Erscheinungsjahr	2002-04-11
Seitenanzahl	200
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.