Riveting book about the Jewish Brigade, which fought at the end of WW II in the British Army in northern Italy and then spent a year in Europe post-war doing guard duty. But that's not the real story.

The Brigade had a different purpose, as planned by the Palestinian Yishuv (the Jewish leadership): they were to train and learn to fight, to prepare for the inevitable War of Independence which eventually came in 1947-48.

But these men didn't stop there- once in Europe, they found other, more pressing things to do: a campaign of vengeance against Nazis, a series of missions to rescue Jews from DP camps and smuggle them to Palestine, a plot to steal weapons and send them to the Yishuv. It's an amazing story.

The author focuses on three men, Arie Pinchuk, Yohanan Peltz, and Israel Carmi, along with Pinchuk's sister Leah, a Holocaust survivor trying to find her way to her brother and the Promised Land.

The book is highly readable, and the subject matter is really compelling. It reminds one that, whatever you think about Israel's current politics, its origin story is truly a man-made miracle. ( )

Artfully written account of the Jewish Brigade's history during the Second World War fighting as part of the British Eighth Army in the Italian campaign against the Germans towards the war's end. I found this to be a real page turner as the book's exciting episodes unfolded.

Blum's skill lies with his merging of both the Brigade's own history and the individual stories of three of its members. All of which is based on extensive and painstaking research of published and unpublished histories as well as interviews with the surviving protagonists. There are really 3 or 4 book's worth contained within the one volume as the Brigade's story only really gets going once the war comes to an end in May '45.

The central figures of Carmi and Peltz become deeply involved with the underground campaign to smuggle out Jewish war refugees and camp survivors against the wishes of the British authorities. The other main figure of Pinchuk meanwhile, sets off towards finding his lost sister Leah who he hasn't seen since leaving pre-war Poland for Palestine. Over the course of the book they all become involved in the people-smuggling as well as a fair share of gun running and acts of vengeance on those they hold responsible for the crimes of the Reich. Altogether a very exciting read, and very well written book of modern history. ( )

Epic of vengeance, salvation in WWII; true story of British Army, Jewish Brigade in 1944

WWII - Jewish Brigade ( )