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Title: Yiddish Civilisation: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Nation

Author: Paul Kriwaczek

Narrator: Robert Blumenfeld

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-17-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: History, World

Publisher's Summary:

Tracing Yiddish civilization from its roots in the Diaspora to the present, Paul Kriwaczek combines intimate family anecdote, travelogue, historical research, and interviews with scholars to give us a rich portrait of a nearly extinguished culture as it survived across the centuries. He begins his chronicle in Jerusalem, with the destruction of the Jewish temple at the hands of the Romans in the year 70. We see the burgeoning exile population disperse, moving outward and northward throughout the following centuries, making their mark in more far flung cities under Roman rule. As these communities settle and coalesce, a self-governing Yiddish world takes root, spreading from the Rhineland and Bavaria to Western Russia and the Ukraine. By its late-medieval heyday, this economically successful, intellectually adventurous, and largely self-ruling Yiddish society is a presence from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Kriwaczek reflects upon the development of Yiddish language, occupations, social life, art, music, and literature, and introduces us to notable diplomats, artists, and thinkers. He chronicles the slow decline of Yiddish culture in Europe and Russia, beginning in the 17th century with the Chmielnicki Massacres in the Ukraine and culminating in the Holocaust, and looks further to fresh offshoots in the New World, ultimately celebrating what remains of Yiddish culture in our own time.

Critic Reviews:

"Both highly readable and coherent." (

Tucson Citizen)

"Fascinating....Evocative and precise....An enjoyable narrative that captures the intricacies of a very complicated history." (

Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Not the usual "muddy" telling of the "Yiddish" contribution to Jewish Civilization.

Krawaczek's focus on the rise of the "Yiddish Civilization" provides an at times jarring, but always interesting point of view, against which to measure the usual foundation of histories that find Yiddish important, but not at the centre of the rise of a "civilization." As a Yiddish speaker who is very close to his Eastern European roots --though born in North America-- the study made me give the book to my son and say -- "ok, here's something you can read that doesn't slide in the same mud as the usual Jewish studies. Enjoy."

Considerable detail does not become tedious. This is an overview of the history of ...

This book is most informative with a different perspective of the past. Considerable detail does not become tedious. This is an overview of the history of the Jewish people that does not pull punches, but is riveting and challenging.

Things that folk history didn't tell you....

This is mostly about what happened in the periods between the expulsions and the pogroms, and, while digressive, is quite fascinating

Great, clear

Great, clear, readable, with a lot of interesting insights into the development of a unique culture, which grew very differently in Europe than in its desert homeland.

Five Stars

love it !!!

Thanks