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People of the Book | 
| Author: Geraldine Brooks
Publisher: Center Point Large Print
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy New: $19.95
You Save: $13.00 (39%)
New (13) Used (3) from $19.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  127 reviews
Sales Rank: 342905
Format: Large Print
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 478
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.7
ISBN: 1602851255
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781602851252
ASIN: 1602851255
Publication Date: February 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: New Book! Slight shelfwear. NO remainder marks! Fast shipping!
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, January 2008: One of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images, the Sarajevo Haggadah survived centuries of purges and wars thanks to people of all faiths who risked their lives to safeguard it. Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed history of this precious volume into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent journey. In the hands of Hanna Heath, an impassioned rare-book expert restoring the manuscript in 1996 Sarajevo, it yields clues to its guardians and whereabouts: an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair. While readers experience crucial moments in the book's history through a series of fascinating, fleshed-out short stories, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically, and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of protecting this treasure. A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas, People of the Book will surely be hailed as one of the best of 2008. --Mari Malcolm 
Product Description
The complex and moving(The New Yorker) novel by Pulitzer Prizewinner Geraldine Brooks follows a rare manuscript through centuries of exile and war
Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. Called a tour de forceby the San Francisco Chronicle, this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century S pain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient bindingan insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white haironly begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 122 more reviews...
 a most worthwile book to read September 30, 2008
a fine book in all areas. would apeal to both men and women. a most compelling story.
A wonderful story September 25, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Book and manuscript conservator, Dr.Hanna Heath is brought to Sarajevo, after the Bosnian war, to examine what the authorities hope will be a huge find..a Haggadar or ancient Hebrew manuscript, written in the early 15th century. Hanna discovers some unusual tiny clues while examing the book such as a fine white hair, an insects wing, a supposed wine stain and salt crystals, all in a minute quantity and virtually invisible except to the trained eye. The most unusual feature about the manuscript is that it contains the most beautiful illustrations done in gold, silver and lapis lazuli and that, never before, has a Hebrew book contained illustrations, which are forbidden in that religion. The story is mainly that of the history of the book from its conception and through religious pogroms where this wonderful book is protected by people of all religions who value it for its beauty and in spite of fanatics who would destroy it. It's a wonderful journey through the centuries with wars, loves and conflicts of all kinds including sheer avarice and is a superb read for lovers of art and history.
The People of the Book September 24, 2008
What secrets lie in the pages of a sixty million dollar 500 year old book? Geraldine Brooks tells the story of the real Sarajevo Haddagah in her latest novel, People of the Book. Through CSI-style technical research during the book restoration process, clues to the books orgins, owner's and secrets spill out over centuries. No topic is off limits, as Brooks humanizes some of histories great intolerant atrocities. One comes to expect an informative read from this particular author, but I was absolutely blown away by this book. This book was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The deft structuring of the novel consumed me from page one--and had me sneaking in short readings wherever and whenever I could. I'm highly recommending it as one of the best I've read this year (so far).
 Interesting way to develop a look at Jewish history September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wrapped in story about the history of a Jewish book of great historical interest, the People of the Book reveals a colorful history of the Jewish people in all of their struggles throught Europe and the Middle East for the centuries of the books life.
People of the Book September 6, 2008
I loved this book. Mystery, history, romance, suspense....it has it all. I also now have a much greater appreciation for the value placed on historical books and their painstaking restoration process. Very informative in an entertaining way.
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