As mentioned previously, this is a 3-volume condensation (in English) of a 30-volume Hebrew study. This is obvious if compared with some of the entries in the 1970s Encyclopedia Judaica.It is information not to be found anywhere else, particularly its entries of even the smallest European towns.I found one major fault, and several minor ones.The major fault, and one that I cannot understand, is the complete omission of any cities and towns of Bulgaria, even Sofia!One observation that is debatable, is how many volumes should have been published (and therefore made available to English-speaking readers) and, thus, if made into another volume or two, the obvious space/time limitation would not have been so obvious.Minor criticisms: Rumania, instead of Romania. Many inconsequential and trivial photos; the space could have been used for more detail in places where gross omissions occurred.It is obvious that there is no book like it. The Encyclopedia Judaica is superior for the towns/cities it mentions; but, since EJ covers much else, this set's coverage of so many more towns/cities, makes it unique and essential to anyone who desires this information. Another minor point: Why is Jewabne not mentioned?

I was touched by this book. I didn't know a book could change your life. After all, it's only words. And we live in an era ruled by the power of images.But Elie Wiesel, despite all suffering and humiliation that he faced during his life, brings us joy and hope . Joy and hope is his answer to the ashes of the holocaust. If the jews are the chosen people, then Elie Wiese is my vote for role model.

A discussion about the German concentration camps and concentration camps in general.
As a matter of fact, these camps are a sign that human liberty is capable of the best and the worst.
It is evident that this discussion cannot have the depth of the novels (memoirs) of Jorge Semprun.
This small book also contains a biography of the protagonists.
A worth-while read.
Congratulations to ARTE.

When I read this book, the only other works of Elie Wiesel that I read were those from The Night Trilogy. The Town Beyond the Wall is a bit of a departure from those three stories. You see more optimism in this work, though this only becomes obvious towards the end. The language is more poetic and really sucks you into the protagonist's world.

This novel unfolds like ananke. Everything that happens must happen, by a logic that sane men like us can feel but not enunciate.
The most refreshing thing about the novel, so many years after the unspeakable atrocities of Nazi Germany, is the approach to the history lesson. After being inundated with images of the nasty camps, this novel picks up years later, in New York City, with survivors and their families. Instead of the flat numbers of those who survived at the end of 'Schindler's List', we have the story of a man -- a number -- who survived, and continues to survive. And, we have the story of another man who has never left those camps -- a man who forbids his own escape so many years after freedom.
Fascinating, and brutal.
Daniel Stern is an unfortunately unknown writer among young readers like me, despite his extremely high quality and strong heart. I have yet to find him in my local (bookstore). That saddens me.

Stuart Eizenstat has written an excellent book - it's a fair account of the protracted negotiations for compensation for victims of the Holocaust. Eizenstat is a sharp observer, and he doesn't hesitate critizising people (including himself) when he thought they made mistakes.
This is the first real inside report of the sometimes dramatic negotiations on compensation for Nazi slave labourers and property restitution. As a German who has closely followed these issues I can only congratulate Mr. Eizenstat, not just for his work, but also for his book: it is quite the contrary of what I expected - honest, balanced (but never boring), and above all: very authoritative. An absolute "must" for everyone interested in these issues.

Having lived through the Holocaust, and as someone personally involved in ongoing efforts to recover art works stolen by the Nazis, I found Mr. Eizenstat's new book both revealing and insightful.

Pissarro's Impressionist masterpiece "Rue St. Honore, apres midi, effet de pluie," stolen from the Cassirer family by the Third Reich in 1938, is currently being held, in violation of international law, by the Spanish government in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. Mr. Eizenstat has selflessly provided much needed assistance to our family in connection with our efforts to effect its return.

"Imperfect Justice" illustrates, from a rare insider's point of view, the many challenges of typically difficult, complex and not infrequently controversial recovery efforts, and how these obstacles have been overcome on behalf of Holocaust victims and their families. The author's remarkable descriptions of how compensation agreements were forged, and many other fascinating details he shares from his first-hand experience on the "front line" of Holocaust recovery efforts are really most compelling. I encourage everyone interested in the "unfinished business" of the Holocaust to carefully read this unique work of non-fiction by a key figure in these extraordinary matters.

On one level, this book is worth reading just to affirm that there have in fact been times when important people, in this case one in particular -- the author -- cared fiercely about showing many suffering and powerless thousands that the world cared about the unfathomable injustices they had suffered. The victims didn't really get justice, as that was, as the title acknowledges, not remotely possible. But at least they knew that, finally, after decades of wall to wall indifference, someone was listening and trying, seriously, to do what could be done.

But what will make it hard for many readers to put this book down is that it is both a good story, entertainly told, and a shrewd analysis of a complex multi-party, multi-governmental, legal and political negotiation with high stakes, bitter differences, and high-powered protagonists. The book is certainly one of the best case-studies in captivity of the tricky and combustible mix of law, diplomacy, and politics both bureaucratic and democratic, that drives such processes. That this episode stayed on track to reach the best result that it could have was very far from a sure thing, from the beginning to the end. Eizenstat's seasoned, sometimes cynical, frequently amusing exegisis of the calculations, mistakes, and victories of the players makes the book hugely instructive for professionals as well as entertaining for casual students of government. It could be a popular teaching aid in law schools, especially for Eizenstat's exposition of his own strategies, and his often surprisingly candid Monday Morning quarterbacking of himself.

When i was told we had to read this i thought ok i'll read early and get it over with but know i know that this book is not boring it is very interesting and it only took me 2 hours to read it the first time. I recommend buying the cliff notes and the real book.

I am a teacher who always* uses Cliff's Notes if they are available. NOT because I don't want to read the book but because they help me understand the book. Cliff's Notes provide an analysis of the book, such as metaphors and illusions. Don't assume that people who buy Cliff's Notes are too lazy to read the book.

Yes, of corse its a great book I had to read it for a school project, it took me 1 day. It's short and easy to get through once you get passed the first chapter. There are alot of details. I think that that is one thing that makes this book great. Another thing that I think makes this book great is just what it is about,the holocoust. Elie is a great author and I'm looking forward to reading another book of his soon. My advice get the book.

I was disappointed with this work. It is more about Elie Weisel then about chassidic stories. Many of the stories are familiar to me, and in all cases they appear distorted and many times the point of the story is missing. To summarize, as one of the stories said, He didn't hear what was said, and didn't write what he heard.

It's amazing how everything Wiesel touches turns to gold, and here, he's done it again.

The Chassidic masters Wiesel portrays were passionate about Judaism in a way any modern reader can relate to. Wiesel deftly brings that message home time and time again, evoking not only the syrupy nostalgia of most volumes of "Rebbe stories", but also a very immediate committment to Jewish life.

A masterpiece, this would also make an excellent gift for anyone interested in Jewish spirituality.

Hassidism, its tales, legends, and masters, has always been a source of mystery and confusion. "Souls on Fire" is a journey through Hassidism. Traveling from the source and further development of this unique Jewish religious manifestation is a joy when led by the mind and sould of Elie Wiesel. His personal and emotional input, the tales and legends included throughout the book, and his non-academic but rather humane approach (a typical Hassid) is the most sincere attempt in trying to understand and "speak of the unspeakable," sparkling light into a religious fervor born out of anguish and despair. The purpose is not to agree or understand, but rather to believe.

This was a difficult book to rate. It is, to begin with, a fairly short novel; just over 200 pages. I felt one of the problems with this book was that the author moved us around too much in time, place and character. The brevity of the book made this confusing. We're one place then another before we got settled in with the former. The basic plot of the book is challenging but worth the effort to try and follow. A doctor (Raphael)who was a youthful survivor of the Holocaust is trying to come to understand his experiences. Through him we meet a wide array of characters of whom the most important is a man nicknamed Pedro. Raphael is in a search for Pedro and for meaning to the horrors that are beyond meaning. There is an irony in the duality of his search. On one level Raphael searches for a real savior that he has lost. On the other level, he searches for the savior that was never there. In the end he encounters both. We are left unfulfilled. Having gone this far with him, we expect more. We want a clear answer, a happy ending. We get neither and, in this ambiguity, we get a sense of Holocaust reality; there is no meaning, there is no happy ending. Night represents evil, day represents good. In the twilight lies the madness.

Twilight seeks to explore the relationship between God and his creation in the context of a mental assylum whereby the accusation of God's insanity in the wake of the Holocaust is juxta-opposed against God's care. The book is filled with wonderful characters in the assylum who 'double' in their insanity as characters from Hebrew Scripture - Adam, Joseph, Cain, Abraham, the Messiah and God. The book is somewhat complicated in that the deepest questions concerning the nature of God and humanity are explored while historic 'flash backs' break up the intensity to tell the real struggle of the main character and his family under the Nazi regime. The book is written with an intense passion and stimulates emotions and arguments and insights concerning God's relationship to humanity in the light of the holocaust from all angles. God is seen as omni-present but veiled, simultaneously imminant and transcendent. Many times the question WHY? is thrown at God and options of God's insanity, cruelty, indifference and usury are expressed. Finally, the accusation of God's insanity in relation to the hohlocaust is defended through the patient who beleives himself to be God - 'When exactly was I suppose to stop it? Go on, tell me'

The novel evokes sympathy for God as a concluding note and in the face of anger and accusation because of the holocaust we are left with an unveiled God in tears and pain through the accusation 'you could have stopped it - you should have stopped it'.

This is a short novel the weaves a masterful tapestry of emotions, history, theology, accusation and theodicy. It's setting in a clinic is unique, the patients are loveable, understandable. Wiesel leads the reader to be on everyone's side, in everyone's shoes. A stunning novel - well worth coming to terms with and reading over and over again.

This was my 1st Wiesel work and I did not find it to be "perplexing" or "weird". Actually, I found it to be a quite sane story depicting one of the 20th centuries' most perplexing events.

For readers who have thought previously about the various shades of madness and those who find themselves afflicted (Robert Persig's 'Lila' as an example) and for readers who have spent any time reflecting on the inexcapable impact of the Holocaust on survivors and their next generation...then 'Twilight' is a mystical and brutally real novel depicting the terror of just one family out of the countless thousands.

I thought the book was slow and boring. I expected a lot more. w3rd.

Unless you like psychology and philosophy in a large dosage, I'd recommend not buying this book. I'm sure all of Elie Wiesel's other novels including Night are much more interesting. This one is particularly boring - in my view as there's nothing surprising and somewhat spicy in the story. The group is trapped in the Judge's house and throughout the story the author tells us about each character, with additional conversations and quarrels between them. But other than that, and the Judge's weird character, I couldn't find anything that captured me and excited me in this book.

The plot seemed so real. While reading the book, my dad had told me my aunt had once had to stay overnight at someone's home because of a simlar event like the one in the book, the book kinda hit close to home. I never had read any of Elie Wiesel's books before, but checked the book out of the library after reading the inside cover and deciding that the plot would be interesting and make a good story. However, I was disappointed. I really felt that Wiesel could have expanded a lot more on the plot. I didn't feel like I knew the charcters well enough. I didn't understand why the ending ended the way it did. It wasn't the best book I read, but it wasn't the worst.