Outwitting History: How a Young Man Rescued a Million Books and Saved a Vanishing Civilisation - Hardcover

Lansky, Aaron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 028563724X ISBN 13: 9780285637245

Publisher: Souvenir Press, 2005

Synopsis

The greatest cultural rescue effort in Jewish history. Twenty-five years ago it was believed that fewer than 70,000 Yiddish-language books existed. So far, 1.5 million have been saved.

About this title

Review

"Outwitting History is the charming and compelling epic about how Lansky and a few volunteers saved Yiddish books from extinction." -- 'The Times'

There’s just one word to describe ...Aaron Lansky’s enchanting book Outwitting History... chutzpah... an adventure story to delight bibliophiles. -- 'Daily Mail'

From the Back Cover

As a twenty-three-year-old graduate student, Aaron Lanskey set out to save the world's abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. Today, twenty-five years and one and a half million books later, he has accomplished what has been called "the greatest cultural rescue effort in Jewish history." In Outwitting History, Lansky shares his adventures as well as the poignant and often laugh-out-loud stories he heard as he traveled the country collecting books. Introducing us to a dazzling array of writers, he shows us how an almost-lost culture is the bridge between the old world and the future—and how the written word can unite everyone who believes in the power of great literature.

Edition details

• Publisher: Souvenir Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 028563724X
• ISBN 13: 9780285637245
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 326