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In 1929 Albert Londres, a non-Jew and renowned journalist, set out to document the lives of Jews at this time. His travels to England, Eastern Europe and finally Palestine produced the literary masterpiece, The Wandering Jew has Arrived. In the East End of London, Londres is moved by the unswerving faith of the Jews. In Eastern Europe he is astounded by the misery and plight he witnesses. The bleak picture is redeemed by his gentle humour, sharp observations and the unforgettable portraits he paints of the exotic individuals he encounters along his way. Londres vividly depicts the birth of Zionism and the wave of pogroms that propelled Jewish immigration to Palestine at the turn of the 20th century. In Palestine, he discovers the new metamorphosed Jew, and his succinct, harrowing descriptions of the Arab massacres of the Jews of Hebron and Safed expose an age-old animosity that is still very much alive today. Presciently, Londres investigation provides startling insight into how the unthinkable -- the Holocaust -- could happen, sweeping across Europe barely a decade after the publication of his book. His evocative, passionately and very personally told story transports readers back to a pivotal moment in history and offers an invaluable perspective on Jewish life in the early twentieth century, on the nascent days of the State of Israel, and on the ongoing strife that has engulfed the region ever since. The Wandering Jew Has Arrived is as relevant today as when first penned.… (more)
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The original author, via the translation, comes across almost as poetic investigative journalism. The translation itself was helpful in that it provided footnotes to correct some inaccuracies by Mr. Londres in the original work.
This book is highly recommended, and certainly leads one to go and learn more about the Balfour agreement, the inter-war years, Theodor Herzl, and other relevant subjects and persons broached in this book.
“The Wandering Jew Has Arrived” by Albert Londres is a book centered on a series of articles that Londres wrote for the French newspaper Le Parisien.
His descriptions of the Jews he
This book is an English translation of a book written in 1930 about the varied experience of Jews and the beginning of Zionism from the late 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century. It does focus on the different experiences of those living in various geographic locations and different approaches to what it means to be a Jew and living in Europe or the States. And asks the question of should we move to the, then, new settlement of Tel Aviv amongst other choices in Palestine.
Nearing the end we are exposed to the tragic situation as it relates the difficulty, and bloodshed, between the Arabs and Jews in Palestine.
This book is highly recommended, and certainly leads one to go and learn more about the Balfour agreement, the inter-war years, Theodor Herzl, and other relevant subjects and persons broached in this book.