The Pity of it All: A Portrait of Jews in Germany 1743-1933

(Paperback)

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"Amos Elon has not only written a great history, but an elegy for a lost civilization" Daniel Johnson, Telegraph The Pity of It All is a passionate and poignant history of German Jews, tracing the journey of a people and their culture from the mid eighteenth century to the eve of the Third Reich. As it is usually told, the story of the Jews in Germany starts at the end, overshadowed by their tragic demise in Hitler's Reich. Now, in this important work of historical restoration, the acclaimed historian and social critic Amos Elon takes us back to the beginning, chronicling a 150-year period of achievement and integration that at its peak produced a golden age second only to the Renaissance.

Reviews

"Brilliant, far-reaching, passionate. . .sweeping and marvelously detailed. . .finely, intimately, movingly drawn. . . a book for the ages." --"The New York Times"
"[Elon] is a master of the telling anecdote. . ..One should be grateful for what Elon has done." --"Los Angeles Times"
"A work packed with beautifully sketched portraits, and constructed with a practiced eye for memorable, well-executed anecdotes." --"The New York Times Book Review"
"Impressive. . .Could hardly be improved upon." --"The New York Review of Books"
"If there is one book Americans should read this winter, it is Amos Elon's "The Pity of It All--"a meticulous and wrenching history of a people in a place at a moment in time that bears urgently upon our own." --Joan Didion, author of "Political Fictions"

Author Bio

Amos Elon is the author of eight widely praised books, including A Blood-Dimmed Tide, Founder- A Portrait of the First Rothschild and the New York Times bestseller Israelis- Founders and Sons. A frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine and the New York Review of Books, he divides his time between Jerusalem and Tuscany.