The Enemy at His Pleasure: A Journey Through the Jewish Pale of Settlement During World War I - Softcover

Ansky, S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805059458 ISBN 13: 9780805059458

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks, 2004

Synopsis

In late 1914, S. Ansky, the influential Jewish-Russian journalist and playwright, received a commission: to organize desperately needed relief for Jews who were caught between the warring armies of Russia, Germany, and the Austrian Empire. Thus began the extraordinary four-year journey meticulously documented here. In daily accounts, Ansky details his struggles to raise funds; to lobby and bribe at the tsar’s court; to procure and transport goods to the towns conquered and reconquered by Cossacks, Germans, Polish mercenaries, and Russian revolutionaries. Ansky depicts scenes of devastation--convoys of refugees, towns looted and burned to the ground, villagers taken hostage and raped. Speaking to maids and ministers, farmers and recruits, doctors and profiteers, he hears and sees it all, as the tsar’s army disintegrates and revolution sweeps across the land. Never before available in English, The Enemy at His Pleasure offers a powerful and poignant view of a world at war, and a vital addition to our record of the past.

About this title

About the Author:

S. Ansky (1863–1920), writer, politician, and folklorist, is best known for his classic play The Dybbuk and for his many ethnographic expeditions throughout the Pale of Settlement.

Joachim Neugroschel has published award-winning translations of works by Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust, Joseph Roth, and Hermann Hesse, among others.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Yiddish

About this edition

• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0805059458
• ISBN 13: 9780805059458
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352