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The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town

The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town

by HelmutWalserSmith (Author)

  • New

    Paperback 2003

    $16.69
Synopsis

In 1900, in a small Prussian town, a young boy was found murdered, his body dismembered, the blood drained from his limbs. The Christians of the town quickly rose up in violent riots to accuse the Jews of ritual murder-the infamous blood-libel charge that has haunted Jews for centuries. In an absorbing narrative, Helmut Walser Smith reconstructs the murder and the ensuing storm of anti-Semitism that engulfed this otherwise peaceful town. Offering an instructive examination of hatred, bigotry, and mass hysteria, The Butcher's Tale is a modern parable that will be a classic for years to come.

Winner of the Fraenkel Award and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2002.

$16.69

Quantity

3 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 276
 Edition: Reprint
 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
Published: 02 Dec 2003
ISBN 10: 0393325059
ISBN 13: 9780393325058

Media Reviews
[A] pioneering study, at once tightly focused and broadly conceived...This is a lucid exemplar of social and cultural history at its best. -- Peter Gay
Smith brilliantly pursues the many clues in the case, tracing the transformation of lies, gossip, spurious facts, and the reporting of the anti-Semitic press into conviction. -- Barbara Fisher - Boston Globe
As absorbing as a mystery novel...stimulating, thoughtfully argued, informative and eye-opening. -- Merle Rubin - Los Angeles Times
Chilling...reads like a thrilling true-crime story. -- The Forward
This powerful volume will appeal to true-crime readers and anyone interested in the dynamics that can turn a peaceful community into a place of hatred and violence. -- Publishers Weekly
A disturbing and often downright frightening examination of how easily 'civilized' societies can succumb to their prejudices and cross over into hysterical barbarism. -- Jay Freeman - Booklist
Author Bio
Helmut Walser Smith is the Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History at Vanderbilt University.