The Angel Of History

Description

For a brief moment in 1940 the lives of a young Spanish militant and a reclusive academic of German and Jewish heritage are thrown together. Along with thousands of others across Europe, both men have fled their homeland in the face of fascist persecution. Yet, until the day their paths converge on a remote mountain pass between France and Spain, their experience of war has been vastly different. Based on true events of Benjamin's life, and ranging from Paris's Left Bank to the prison camps of southern France, The Angel of History explores how the history we think we know is not a series of events but rather a constellation of countless individual lives. And although every story is unique, each is founded on the same human desire - to be remembered.

Bruno Arpaia was born in Naples in 1957 and taught American History at the University of Naples before becoming a journalist for Matin and Republique. An acclaimed editor and translator of Spanish and Latin American literature, Arpaia is the author of four novels. In its original Italian, The Angel of History won the Campiello Prize and was shortlisted for the Super Campiello. He lives in Milan.

* Arpaia's real skill lies in tempering the Spaniard's vibrancy with the German's despair ... Yet this is far from being a depressing novel, and as Mahojo teasingly unfolds his story we are led towards a breathtaking revelation. -- Stephanie Cross * ... a solid piece of scholarship as well as accurate - and frightening - evocation of what it's like for individuals each with private ambitions that never included bearing witness to worldwide catastrophe, to be swept up in a historical maelstrom... -- Lionel Shriver * ... the writing shimmers on the page with memorable images -- Jay Parini