A powerful history of Jewish art collectors in France, and how an embrace of art and beauty was met with hatred and destruction --The depths of French anti-Semitism is the stunning subject that Mr. McAuley lays bare. . . .-[He] tells this haunting saga in eloquent detail. As French anti-Semitism rises once again today, the effect is nothing less than chilling.--Diane Cole, Wall Street Journal --Elegantly written and deeply moving. . . . [A] haunting book.--David Bell, New York Review of Books -In the dramatic years between 1870 and the end of World War II, a number of prominent French Jews-pillars of an embattled community-invested their fortunes in France-s cultural artifacts, sacrificed their sons to the country-s army, and were ultimately rewarded by seeing their collections plundered and their families deported to Nazi concentration camps. -In this rich, evocative account, James McAuley explores the central role that art and material culture played in the assimilation and identity
