Publisher's Synopsis
Jewish history from the Middle Ages to the present, told through the captivating story of one family
Nearly twenty years ago, a chance meeting with a Backenroth family member spurred journalist Michael Karpin to years of research that spanned the globe and several centuries. In Tightrope, he shares the amazing tale of a family that was in many ways extraordinary and in many others typical of Eastern European Jews. Offering a unique portrait of Jewish life through such pivotal events as the migration from Western to Eastern Europe, the birth of Zionism, and the Holocaust, Tightrope tells an inspiring, compelling, and often surprising tale of faith, courage, loyalty, and resourcefulness through centuries of struggle, heartbreak, and triumph.
"Michael Karpin has written a stirring Jewish saga, a rich and wrenching tale. I would praise this book ardently even if it were not the story of my own family."
Leon Wieseltier
"What are authentic ′family values′? Tightrope provides an extraordinary answer for readers everywhere. An exciting human saga, skillfully researched and brilliantly portrayed on a vast canvas spanning six centuries. A richly textured guidebook of Jewish survival."
Rabbi James Rudin, Senior Interreligious Affairs Advisor, American Jewish Committee
"This epic story of six centuries in the lives of the Backenroths is, in manyways, the history of Galician Jewry writ small. Miracles and heartbreak,poverty and wealth, fervor and apostasy, hatred and love, death andrenewal all are displayed in these pages. An amazing, unforgettable, and gripping book."
Jonathan D. Sarna, Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University, and author of American Judaism: A History
