David E. Fishman

This is a fascinating look at the book brigade who, as best as they could salvaged Jewish books, papers, and other cultural items from the Nazis in Vilna, the "Jerusalem of Lithuania" during the war. This portion of the book makes for an incredible story of survival and daring.

The second half of the book, while interesting, was a bit of a letdown for me, as the book brigade survivors had to attempt, once again, to save the books, this time, from the Soviets. This portion of the book focused more on political and bureaucratic maneuverings and was not nearly as dramatic.

An excellent, well-researched book about a lesser-known chapter of the war and one I'd recommend to those who like to read nonfiction.… (mere)

Quite an incredible story about Vilna's "Paper Brigade," a group of committed men and women who saved books and manuscripts from destruction by the Nazis (and later by the Soviets). This is a fascinating tale, and Fishman's thorough research is very impressive. I wish, though, that the book had spent some more time with an editor: after the tenth time the author noted that Vilna was known as "the Jerusalem of Lithuania" before the thirtieth page, I was ready to fling the book across the room. I persevered, and am glad I did, but I admit that such stylistic infelicities did color my opinion of the volume.… (mere)