The Physican is probably the best historical novel I've read. Noah Gordon is a superb writer. In fact, I've reread it and even enjoyed it more the second time. I've read everything that Noah Gordon has written. The same accolades go for all his novels! Read and enjoy!

Muy interesante, ya que yo soy medico en Inglaterra y conozco los lugares hablados, describe a la perfeccion la figura de cirujano-barbero (Mister), caso unico ingles, diferente del medico (Doctor), de aqui la diferencia actualmente entre los "misteres" y los "doctors" ingleses. Y como ambos reconocen que uno no esta completo sin el otro, por ello "Mr" Cole decide hacerse tambien un "Doctor" a un precio tremendo, mas o menos lo que he vivido yo 1,000 anhos despues. Cole tenia la oportunidad de estudiar medicina en Espanha (Salamanca, Alcala y otras), Salerno (Italia) o Bagdad, ya que las universidades de medicina eran Arabes, prefirio irse a Bagdad y estudiar con Avicena. Yo personalmente tambien cruze el mundo para estudiar medicina en Alcala de Henares. A leer este libro que es de lo mejor que he leido.

I couldn't put the book down. Noah Gordon is one of my favorite authors.

This book has a little bit of everything: a moving story, an interesting setting, many little misteries, a lot of historically correct information about the times of the Spanish inquisition. It is written in a friendly, easy-to-follow language, and it leaves us with many thoughts about discrimination, courage, love, and the human spirit.

A manera de novela, Noah Gordon nos invita a vivir el horror que padecieron los judíos durante la inquisición. Allí uno se entera de lo que la Iglesia Católica calla. España es el escenario para conocer esa parte de la historia (que aunque en este libro fabulada y recreada con personajes que no existieron como tales) de la que los católico se averguenzan. Es una novela maravillosa, finamente escrita, atrapa la atención del lector al leer las primeras líneas y desde allí se hace dicífil cerrar el libro, hasta llegar al sorprendente final que es la esperanza misma.

El autor logra capturar la atencion del lector y es dificil dejar de leer esta novela. El autor revela la aventura de este joven judio durante la España del 1500. Tiene suspenso, amor, y atencion al detalle en una narrativa facil de leer. El que ha viajado a, o vive en España, apreciara esta obra de marco historico. (Si les gusto The Name of the Rose, les gustara esta).

Esta novela más que la historia de Yonah Toledano y su familia, es la historia de miles de familias judias y musulmanas que tras la conquista de Granada por los Reyes Católicos se vieron forzados a abandonar sus casas y propiedades por su fe o abjurar de ellas y convertirse al catolicismo. Muy de manifiesto se ve la mano de la Santa Inquisición que tomó parte activa en esa historica expulsión tan nefasta para la España de aquel entonces y la reacción de los ciudadanos que igual delataban a los conversos y herejes como que los protegían y escondían a sabiendas de las consecuencias que el delito acarreaba. Muy buena las descripciones que el autor hace de esa España del siglo XVI, sus costumbres, formas de vida y pensamientos.

Just after the last turn of the millenium, a young boy is orphaned in London. Raised by a travelling barber-surgeon, Rob J. decides to be a great physician. Problem: the best medical school is located in Persia. Problem: they don't much like Catholics in Persia. Solution: Rob J. masquerades as a Jew in order to attend the school. Through the seven or eight years he spends in Persia, Rob J. falls in love, gets married, has kids, gets some really great friends, meets up with the Shah, nearly gets killed, and discovers appendicitis. This book isn't gory despite its medical scenes, and is actually a really interested read if you like reading about long-time-agos or medical lore. Though most things I've read that have taken place that long ago are really difficult to read, this one wasn't.

This engrossing book traces the life of 11th century Englishman, Robert Cole. Cole begins as a normal child, is quickly orphaned, and is then apprenticed to a barber-surgeon. As he travels throughout England with his master, the reader is introduced to all aspects of English peasant life. Family life, morality, religion, sexuality, medicine, xenophobia and history are all presented in an interesting, subtle, and easily read writing style. When Cole grows up and decides to be a physician, he comes in contact with Jewish doctors who explain to him that the best universities are in Moslem-ruled Persia, where no Christian may go. Determined to learn, Cole overcomes this obstacle by pretending to be a Jew. As he travels and studies in Persia, the same questions of lifestyle are addressed, only this time within the Jewish and Moslem communities. This is a great read for anyone who likes adventurous stories about growing up, or who is interested in sociology, religion, medicine, or history.

You know those books that you get really sad once you get to the end? This is one of those. Noah Gordon will take you to London's century 11, to the life of Robert J. Cole, a boy who was made an orphan at the age of 9. Barber, a surgeon-barber, very common on those days as a alternative of doctor to poor people, taught him the art of malabarism, food, women and of course the simplest form of cure, traveling all around England.
Rob, not satisfied with the poor knowledge that he had on curing people and eager to learn more, decides to travel to the Orient to study on one of the best medicine schools in that time.
The book is a mixture of love, happiness, sadness, adventure, fiction, history, religion... I just couldn't stop reading!

I had never heard of Noah Gordon until I read his book "The Physician". I loved it so much I couldn't wait to read "Shaman". I thought surely it can't be as good, but to my surprise it was! The characters are very realistic and it conveys the atmosphere of the Civil War without being a history text-book! Although it is very long, when you reach the end you wish it was longer! It is one of the few books that is sad, funny, exciting and informative all at once. I would recommend both "Shaman" and "The Physician" to everybody!

The book Shaman by Noah Gordon belongs on every book shelf. The characters are true and the story interesting, engrossing and heart warming. The characters seem so real that you walk away feeling they are friends instead of ink on paper! I urge everyone to read it. I've read it five times! (Once back to back!)

What a wonderful followup to The Physician. As a physician there is much to learn about the history of my profession, however, this story transcends the history. The characters are vivid and as in Rob J vol.I Gordon displays honestly characters with all their warts and makes us like them anyway. For me, this wasn't Shaman as much as it was Rob J. One of the best reads in quite some time. It is a story that sets its own tempo and one you won't want to rush through. I revisited many parts of the book while reading it. It won't be the last time I read it. I have added the hard cover to my permanent library. I encourage everyone to read both The Physician first than Shaman. Don't be daunted by the size of the books. Every page is a delight.

Ferrol Sams' Whisper of the River is the only sequel I have ever read that surpassed the original. Now I've read Shaman and that makes two

I have never read any of Noah Gordon's other works, so I can only rate this as a stand-alone piece. Most of what I enjoyed was how medicine has changed since the book was published in 1969 - anybody with so much as a mild fascination in medicine (or a love of ER or other similar television dramas) would probably find it enjoyable, if not entirely up to date. The whole book has a warm, fuzzy feeling, and I was left quite content and pleased with the world by its end. I give it four stars not for the great prose or character development, but because it kept me reading for hours on end, curious to find out what happened to the characters. A made-for-TV novel, if you will.

An early work of Gordon, it reflects on his fascination with the world of Medicine. Unlike his best work in The Physician and Shaman, Death Committee searches out modern cutting edge medicine. At times he seems in awe of the mortals who struggle to solve the puzzle of transplantation. He does an accurate job for 1969 when the book was published.

I expected more incite to the characters. Having read his wonderful later works first, my expectations were high. Trying to put this in perspective as a second novel, it showcases Gordon's development as a character writer.

It is a clever quick read and highly recommended for those who like Gordon's later works, but I would read the later works first.

Mr. Noah Gordon is my prefered author... I have readed all of his books...and this is another masterpiece that came out of his mind... It talks about the history os three doctors and their lifes inside a Hospital... A sensible book, once you start you can't stop... A MUST READ !!!

This is the second book of a series of 3 books that tell the awesome story of the Cole family, every first kid of wich is a doctor with a strange gift... The story itself is REALLY interesting and well-told, but i definitively liked the 1st book more than this one, since it contains more historical facts and interesting comments about how life was in the Middle Ages, and how religion controlled everything... Oh, and dont you dare to read this book without having read the 1st one, guys... that would be catastrophic!!! Also, i think these 3 books are especially valuable for those studying or somewhat interested in the career of medicine... It really gives you a great idea about what a good doctor is like.

Este es el segundo libro de una serie de tres que relatan la increíble historia de la familia Cole, cuyos primoogénitos son siempre doctores con un don extraño... La historia en sí misma es muy interesante y bien contada, pero a mi definitivamente me gustó mas el primer libro que este, ya que contiene mas hechos historicos y comentarios interesantes acerca de como era la vida en la Edad Media y como todo era controlado por la religion... Ah, y no se atrevan a leer este libro sin heber antes leído el primero, gente... eso sería catastrófico!!! Además, yo pienso que esta serie de libros sería especialmente útil o de interés para aquellos estudiantes o simplemente interesados en la carrera de medicina humana... Realmente te da una buena idea acerca de cómo debe ser un buen doctor.

Noah Gordon's "The Last Jew" describes the wrenching experience of the Jewish communities in Spain and Portugal who suffered horribly during the infamous Inquisition. As the book opens in 1489, the Toledano family, famous for its expertise in metalworking, is central to the story. Meir, one of the Toledano sons, is found dead in the process of delivering a sacred silver and gold object to a priest, and his death leads to an investigation which has far ranging implications for Jews and Catholics alike. Subsequently, Yonah Toledano, Meir's brother, suffers through the death and expulsion of his fellow Jews as the Inquisition heats up. He decides not to flee Spain, nor does he undergo a false conversion to Catholicism as so many others do. He travels the country pretending to be an "Old Christian" and he silently mouths the Jewish prayers that he remembers from his youth. "The Lost Jew" is a "road story" as Yonah wanders from place to place, taking up migrant labor, work in an armory and medicine. He befriends a number of people, including women, as he tries to find a purpose in life. At the back of his mind, he wants to take revenge on those who killed his brother. Unfortunately, the novel loses its way for several reasons. Yonah's character remains a cipher. He seems to care about Judaism occasionally, but most of the time he scarcely gives it a thought. He seems a little too nimble with everything that comes his way. He is equally adept at forging steel and performing surgery! The book does not have a strong central theme that carries it along. It meanders along slowly with Yonah as he travels from place to place, and the large cast of characters tends to become confusing after a while. It is also too coincidental that Yonah keeps meeting up with people that he knew as a youth. Too many coincidences weaken a book. I am very interesting in this tragic period of Jewish history, but, for all of his meticulous research, Gordon did not put together a particularly compelling story.

A Jewish youth of 1492 Spain who loses his family in the midst of Queen Isabella's Expulsion Decree: what better way to enter the world of the Inquisition and the Jews and the conversos (Marranos). I have always felt that history should be taught through historical fiction, and here you get a chance to "live" in the period of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (without a single mention of Columbus!). The book is peopled by many characters of the time who cross the path of Yonah Toledano (our Jewish youth); men of the Church, relic stealers, silversmiths, sailors, silk merchants, workers of armour, and physicians of the time. In perhaps a bit too tidy a manner, Yonah apprentices himself to almost everybody he meets and manages to do well at everything. The novel, however, does give us a chance to move around in this world and to experience the loss of all that is important to Yonah. How Yonah retains the spirit of his Jewishness and strives toward the fulfillment of his own life are the questions that this novel chooses to answer.

This novel works on several levels: As a story about the Middle Ages; the expulsion of the Jews and Moors; the Spanish Inquisition; an adventure story of trying to escape the Inquisition while in disguise and hoping to solve a murder mystery. As the main character moves around parts of Spain taking different jobs and names to avoid death by the Inquisition, the author gives insights into the culture and history of those times. It's a historical adventure/murder mystery/character study that is a real page turner and keeps steady interesting pace start to finish. A real good read.

This is the third book written by Noah Gordon that I've read in the past month. I accidentally stumbled on "The Last Jew" at the library, and loved it. I went back to borrow any other book by the same author and came home with "The Rabbi". They both educated me, and entertained me as well. This particular book I actually bought at the library's "book store" for $3. Initially, the title bothered me, but I was hoping that it wasn't about what women call "their choice". I was hoping that the author was as prolife as Bernard Nathanson who wrote that any medical doctor could not deny that God given life exists in those tiny "fetuses"... I realized after I read the first few pages that I was in for a debate and found myself recalling the days when I stood in front of an abortion clinic (with my mouth shut by the way, but only handing out information on the dangers of abortions) and how much I dreaded going back there, and how ugly the whole thing is and was. I'm not sorry I read it, because the author writes beautifully, but it made me sad. I found myself "sitting alone before(I flicked the pages over) and cursed (R.J.) in furious whispers until (I) began to laugh at (my) own foolishness." I had so respected the main characters in the other two books, and this one (R.J.) made me want to slap her.

This is the first book i have read from Noah Gordon, and I personally did not liked it. My twin sister read "The Physician" and "The Death Committee" and told that they were GREAT!! so I decided to buy this one... But it was a complete disappointment!! the first half was good, but the second one was so awful it took me weeks to finished it, only 1 or 2 pages per day... I just hope that his other books are as magnificent as my sister told me.

This novel is not just the story of the Rabbi Michael Kind and his wife Leslie but the story of four generation of jews in United States different in their way of feel, believe, keep their faith and religious identity. A very well written novel full of descriptions where the retrospective technique help the reader to understand the present of the Rivkind-Kind family knowing the past of each other of the members of the story.

This book has an interesting story including the heritage of the family, of course a diamond, but it has some characters that doesn't have to be there. At the end of the book the only thing he has is the diamond, he has no family, no lover, etc.
The question is: Will you change your actual family for your heritage?

'The Jerusalem Diamond' is a brilliantly written and truly insightful book. The story of the main character's involement with a particular diamond is woven in between flashbacks to the past. This makes the book exciting and historical - combining fact and fiction. A wonderful book.

Harry Hopeman is the main character of "Jerusalem Diamond". Like in other Gordon books, he is a jew. An american jew, very wise, rich, he trades diamonds. His past, or the past of his family is glorious, but even so, it is also misty. In the plot, Hopeman travels to Israel, the jewish nation, to verify the autenticity and, if possible, to buy a historical diamond that arises the interests of the three major religions: christianism, judaism and islamism. Arriving at Jerusalem, Hopeman sees himself pressed by people representing the three religions, that view possession of the diamond as a way to get better over the other two. Hopeman's religious culture is put against his journey in the Land, where people breathe religion mixed with armed fighting; and he gets involved in a love affair with a local woman, widow to an ideal. Despite all these things, he finds a perfect diamond... when what he was looking for was one with a very visible damage. Jerusalem is a precious city to three cultures. And in this city Hopeman finds a diamond... HIS diamond. The plot in the book is very interesting, but the only problem with Noah Gordon's books is that they get pale if compared to his masterpiece, "The physician". In "Jerusalem diamond", the historical chapters seem a little bit undeveloped, and the main plot twists so much that sometimes the reader gets lost. Anyway, a fast book to read, and very pleasant. One won't regret the purchase.