Disappointing, 15 Jul 2008
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none, it was in Auschwitz 1.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.

ochmister, 06 Jun 2008
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.

An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand., 16 May 2008
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.

You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.

During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.

At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.

Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.

There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.

The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.

Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.

The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.

The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.

Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.

As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.

This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.

Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.

His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.

As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.

A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.

If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.

Brings the Reality of what went on home !, 11 May 2008
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !

Gripping, 28 Apr 2008
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!

Disappointing, 15 Jul 2008
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none, it was in Auschwitz 1.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.

ochmister, 06 Jun 2008
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.

An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand., 16 May 2008
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.

You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.

During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.

At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.

Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.

There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.

The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.

Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.

The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.

The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.

Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.

As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.

This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.

Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.

His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.

As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.

A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.

If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.

Brings the Reality of what went on home !, 11 May 2008
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !

Gripping, 28 Apr 2008
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!

A startling journey indeed, 05 Nov 2008
In Journey by Moonlight, the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb has produced one of the most memorable novels I have read for some time. When I finished it, I turned back to think about what to write in this review and was immediately drawn back into whichever part of the story I landed in, beguiled by the quality of writing and the narrative pace. Ostensibly about the marriage between Mihály and Erzsi, it would be incorrect to describe this as merely a novel, for it is also a series of statements about existence, relationships and our place in the world.

Mihály and Erzsi are newlyweds and we join them on their honeymoon in Venice. We rapidly learn that Mihály is a vague, other-worldly man, who seems barely planted on the earth.

Even during the first week of the honeymoon he finds himself one night wandering the back streets of Venice for in a sort of dream, not returning to the hotel until dawn. At one point we read a beautifully ironic and sarcastic letter to Mihály from Erzsi's ex-husband Zoltan, giving him instructions on how to care for Erzsi and perfectly describing Mihály's character:

"If I were a woman, and had to choose between the two of us, I too would have chosen you without hesitiation and Erzi surely loves you for being just the sort of person you are - so utterly withdrawn and abstracted that you haven no real relationship with anybody or anything, like someone from another planet, a Martian on earth, someone who never really notices anything, . . . who never pays proper attention when others speak, who often seems to act out of vague goodwill and politeness as if playing at being human"

Erzsi soon realises that her marriage is based on the fiction that the two understand each other perfectly. However when Erzi starts to explain himself, the more confusing he becomes because he holds secrets even from himself, and fails to understand that people other than himself also have an inner life. The marriage is not going to last! But the way it soon ends is uniquely strange, and perhaps shows the shallowness of its foundations from the start.

The story then divides, following the courses of both Mihály and Erzsi as they go their separate ways. Erszi goes to Paris and lives with a girl-friend, meeting up again with Zoltan and various other unique characters. At one point she seems to be offered up to a wealthy Persian as part of a business transaction but manages to assert herself sufficiently to extricate herself and make her own choices after the disastrous second marriage.

Mihály on the other hand continues journeying through Italy, having a series of misfortunes along the way which reveal much about the flaws in his character. An other-worldly but self-regarding and self-indulgent personality, but also self-deceiving, with high ideals which he drops at the merest hint of inconvenience to himself.

It is the energetic writing style which marks this book out as special. The narrative pace is fast, but it is the insights into human existence along the way which make it sparkle. Antal Szerb has no illusions about his characters for all are deeply flawed.

Antal Szerb is a new discovery to me but one of the most valuable. No doubt my enjoyment of this book owes much to the excellent translation by Len Rix and his Afterword sets the book in a wider context and I am pleased to see that he agrees that irony, distinctively Middle-European in character operates on every level of this sophisticated and remarkable novel. Although Mihály's actions are reprehensible, somehow our sympathies are never quite alienated - "some principle at the core of his being calls to us".

Wholly involving, 04 Nov 2007
Mihály, the central character of this elegant and stylish novel (beautifully translated by Len Rix) seems to belong to the early continental 19th century rather than to inter-war Budapest. He is a man in his late thirties, a neurotic and Romantic character, unworldly, more at home in history than in the present, ill at ease in his bourgeois setting at home and equally ill at ease about being in his late thirties. He has a great nostalgia for the time when, as an adolescent schoolboy, he was the hanger-on of a group of unconventional young people: Tamás (who several times tried to commit suicide and eventually managed it); his sister Eva (whom Mihály adored); Ervin (another of Eva's admirers, a convert to Catholicism from Judaism); and János, a suave trickster.

The book opens twenty years later, when Mihály is on his honeymoon in Venice with his wife Erszi. Erszi had left her first husband to marry Mihály because he was `different'; he had seduced and then married her because he was trying to be `normal'. But she did not understand just how `different' he was, and he could not cope with marriage; and, besides, he is haunted by the memory of the now mysterious Eva. During a stop-over on a railway journey, Mihály makes the Freudian error of getting onto one train while Erszi is travelling on another. He is relieved to be on his own and that noone can find him. He travels from one Italian location to another - all beautifully and sometimes hauntingly described. I must not reveal the many strange, mysterious and coincidental events that happen to him; but in any case his thought processes are at least as central to the story as are the various events.

Meanwhile Erszi, unable to face her family in Budapest as a deserted wife, makes her way to Paris. There she, too, in her own way, turns against the respectable bourgeois life she has hitherto been leading. Again I must not elaborate; but the story is full of fascinating psychological twists and turns (though one of them, in an ancient chateau on a rainy night, does, I must admit, strike me as uncharacteristically grotesque and over the top - quite out of tune with the delicacy of the rest of the novel.)

The note of death is heard throughout the novel. As a youngster Mihály had to take part in the theatricals staged by Tamás and Eva which invariably involved death, with Mihály willingly playing the sacrificial victim. Later, there are suicides, cemeteries, Etruscan sarcophagi and the apparent Etruscan notion that "dying is an erotic art", which so resonates with Mihály and had done so for Tamás. Mihály hears a remarkable lecture on that subject from Professor Waldheim, one of his former class-mates whom he meets in Rome - and from that moment onwards Szerb plays some extraordinary games with his readers.

A subtle, rich and wonderful book.

A beautiful novel of discovery and escape from the world, 11 Jun 2007
This is one of the most absorbing books I have read this year - there was no way I could put it down until I got to the end of it. Peopled with unforgettable characters like every one of us, this is a tale of love, death, individuality, courage, and conforming. The main characters are on a honeymoon trip in Rome, where they talk about their past lives and the people that affected them. There comes a point where the past and present meet, when it is not possible for love or life to continue; each character must make a choice to decide his or her own fate. The language is beautiful and the whole novel has eerie, Gothic undertones as we follow characters to their death, to isolated houses and mountains where they make an attempt to escape from a common, ordinary world. The language flows beautifully and makes you think about your own life as if you were being swept along by a stream of wisdom. This was wonderful, touching and self-reflective...highly recommended.

a hidden classic.., 20 Dec 2006
having just finished this masterpiece of a novel, i am truly surprised that i had not heard of it before seeing it in my local charity shop. this beautiful story of a man not able to let go of his childhood captivated me and i couldn't put it down until i'd finished. i'd just love to learn hungarian so i could read the original and see whether it's even better!

Simply magical, 08 Oct 2004
With a subtle wit that allows the reader to be amused at the pretensions and foibles of the characters without making them unsympathetic or into just cyphers, Szerb tells the story of Mihaly and Erzsi and how their honeymoon unfolds. The novel is largely set in Italy and France, with flashbacks to the earlier life of Mihaly in Hungary which build into the picture of his character.
Journey by Moonlight is supposed to be a classic of Hungarian literature and I found that easy to understand from the English Translation by Len Rix. This novel and author deserve to be much more widely known.
The actual physical production of this volume by Pushkin Press is impressive with a sewn binding and very high quality paper used.

Disappointing, 15 Jul 2008
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none, it was in Auschwitz 1.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.

ochmister, 06 Jun 2008
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.

An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand., 16 May 2008
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.

You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.

During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.

At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.

Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.

There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.

The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.

Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.

The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.

The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.

Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.

As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.

This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.

Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.

His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.

As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.

A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.

If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.

Brings the Reality of what went on home !, 11 May 2008
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !

Gripping, 28 Apr 2008
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!

A startling journey indeed, 05 Nov 2008
In Journey by Moonlight, the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb has produced one of the most memorable novels I have read for some time. When I finished it, I turned back to think about what to write in this review and was immediately drawn back into whichever part of the story I landed in, beguiled by the quality of writing and the narrative pace. Ostensibly about the marriage between Mihály and Erzsi, it would be incorrect to describe this as merely a novel, for it is also a series of statements about existence, relationships and our place in the world.

Mihály and Erzsi are newlyweds and we join them on their honeymoon in Venice. We rapidly learn that Mihály is a vague, other-worldly man, who seems barely planted on the earth.

Even during the first week of the honeymoon he finds himself one night wandering the back streets of Venice for in a sort of dream, not returning to the hotel until dawn. At one point we read a beautifully ironic and sarcastic letter to Mihály from Erzsi's ex-husband Zoltan, giving him instructions on how to care for Erzsi and perfectly describing Mihály's character:

"If I were a woman, and had to choose between the two of us, I too would have chosen you without hesitiation and Erzi surely loves you for being just the sort of person you are - so utterly withdrawn and abstracted that you haven no real relationship with anybody or anything, like someone from another planet, a Martian on earth, someone who never really notices anything, . . . who never pays proper attention when others speak, who often seems to act out of vague goodwill and politeness as if playing at being human"

Erzsi soon realises that her marriage is based on the fiction that the two understand each other perfectly. However when Erzi starts to explain himself, the more confusing he becomes because he holds secrets even from himself, and fails to understand that people other than himself also have an inner life. The marriage is not going to last! But the way it soon ends is uniquely strange, and perhaps shows the shallowness of its foundations from the start.

The story then divides, following the courses of both Mihály and Erzsi as they go their separate ways. Erszi goes to Paris and lives with a girl-friend, meeting up again with Zoltan and various other unique characters. At one point she seems to be offered up to a wealthy Persian as part of a business transaction but manages to assert herself sufficiently to extricate herself and make her own choices after the disastrous second marriage.

Mihály on the other hand continues journeying through Italy, having a series of misfortunes along the way which reveal much about the flaws in his character. An other-worldly but self-regarding and self-indulgent personality, but also self-deceiving, with high ideals which he drops at the merest hint of inconvenience to himself.

It is the energetic writing style which marks this book out as special. The narrative pace is fast, but it is the insights into human existence along the way which make it sparkle. Antal Szerb has no illusions about his characters for all are deeply flawed.

Antal Szerb is a new discovery to me but one of the most valuable. No doubt my enjoyment of this book owes much to the excellent translation by Len Rix and his Afterword sets the book in a wider context and I am pleased to see that he agrees that irony, distinctively Middle-European in character operates on every level of this sophisticated and remarkable novel. Although Mihály's actions are reprehensible, somehow our sympathies are never quite alienated - "some principle at the core of his being calls to us".

Wholly involving, 04 Nov 2007
Mihály, the central character of this elegant and stylish novel (beautifully translated by Len Rix) seems to belong to the early continental 19th century rather than to inter-war Budapest. He is a man in his late thirties, a neurotic and Romantic character, unworldly, more at home in history than in the present, ill at ease in his bourgeois setting at home and equally ill at ease about being in his late thirties. He has a great nostalgia for the time when, as an adolescent schoolboy, he was the hanger-on of a group of unconventional young people: Tamás (who several times tried to commit suicide and eventually managed it); his sister Eva (whom Mihály adored); Ervin (another of Eva's admirers, a convert to Catholicism from Judaism); and János, a suave trickster.

The book opens twenty years later, when Mihály is on his honeymoon in Venice with his wife Erszi. Erszi had left her first husband to marry Mihály because he was `different'; he had seduced and then married her because he was trying to be `normal'. But she did not understand just how `different' he was, and he could not cope with marriage; and, besides, he is haunted by the memory of the now mysterious Eva. During a stop-over on a railway journey, Mihály makes the Freudian error of getting onto one train while Erszi is travelling on another. He is relieved to be on his own and that noone can find him. He travels from one Italian location to another - all beautifully and sometimes hauntingly described. I must not reveal the many strange, mysterious and coincidental events that happen to him; but in any case his thought processes are at least as central to the story as are the various events.

Meanwhile Erszi, unable to face her family in Budapest as a deserted wife, makes her way to Paris. There she, too, in her own way, turns against the respectable bourgeois life she has hitherto been leading. Again I must not elaborate; but the story is full of fascinating psychological twists and turns (though one of them, in an ancient chateau on a rainy night, does, I must admit, strike me as uncharacteristically grotesque and over the top - quite out of tune with the delicacy of the rest of the novel.)

The note of death is heard throughout the novel. As a youngster Mihály had to take part in the theatricals staged by Tamás and Eva which invariably involved death, with Mihály willingly playing the sacrificial victim. Later, there are suicides, cemeteries, Etruscan sarcophagi and the apparent Etruscan notion that "dying is an erotic art", which so resonates with Mihály and had done so for Tamás. Mihály hears a remarkable lecture on that subject from Professor Waldheim, one of his former class-mates whom he meets in Rome - and from that moment onwards Szerb plays some extraordinary games with his readers.

A subtle, rich and wonderful book.

A beautiful novel of discovery and escape from the world, 11 Jun 2007
This is one of the most absorbing books I have read this year - there was no way I could put it down until I got to the end of it. Peopled with unforgettable characters like every one of us, this is a tale of love, death, individuality, courage, and conforming. The main characters are on a honeymoon trip in Rome, where they talk about their past lives and the people that affected them. There comes a point where the past and present meet, when it is not possible for love or life to continue; each character must make a choice to decide his or her own fate. The language is beautiful and the whole novel has eerie, Gothic undertones as we follow characters to their death, to isolated houses and mountains where they make an attempt to escape from a common, ordinary world. The language flows beautifully and makes you think about your own life as if you were being swept along by a stream of wisdom. This was wonderful, touching and self-reflective...highly recommended.

a hidden classic.., 20 Dec 2006
having just finished this masterpiece of a novel, i am truly surprised that i had not heard of it before seeing it in my local charity shop. this beautiful story of a man not able to let go of his childhood captivated me and i couldn't put it down until i'd finished. i'd just love to learn hungarian so i could read the original and see whether it's even better!

Simply magical, 08 Oct 2004
With a subtle wit that allows the reader to be amused at the pretensions and foibles of the characters without making them unsympathetic or into just cyphers, Szerb tells the story of Mihaly and Erzsi and how their honeymoon unfolds. The novel is largely set in Italy and France, with flashbacks to the earlier life of Mihaly in Hungary which build into the picture of his character.
Journey by Moonlight is supposed to be a classic of Hungarian literature and I found that easy to understand from the English Translation by Len Rix. This novel and author deserve to be much more widely known.
The actual physical production of this volume by Pushkin Press is impressive with a sewn binding and very high quality paper used.

Buy 'If This Is A Man' Instead, 07 Jul 2008
A great work, but 'Survival in Auschwitz' is just the American name for 'If This Is A Man', which is published in Britain together with 'The Truce' in a single volume. Amazon has it, and it's better value as well as a better title.

One of the best Holocaust memoirs, 18 Sep 2007
There has been much great literature written by holocaust survivors, and this one is just about as good as any.

Primo Levi describes in "Survival in Auschwitz" the scheme by which those who could were able to maintain some sort of existance. Those unable to work are gassed, shot or beaten to death. Those who manage to survive are those who find ways to make themselves useful, without actual serioius exertion on the meagre rations. The lifeblood of the camp is "organising" - a black market where a stolen bar of soap is traded for a slice of bread; a potato for a scarf.

One difference between Levi and other Holocaust memoirs, is that he does not rely on an emotional appeal. He produces a trully excellent and insightful disposition of the the psychology of genocide. The emotional effects stems from Levis astute analysis, rather than being explicity given, an as such and as such are probably actually more effective.

It is a strange aspect of holocaust literatre, that in describing such terrible events they can engender such positive feelings in the reader. The way that those such as Levi can survive the horrors and somehow come out the other end as full human beings is inspiring to us all.








a hard read, 13 Sep 2006
this book was a below average read,iv read much better books than this onthe concentration camps.i found this book very hard to stay interested in and found alot of times my mind would wander off and get bored of this book so i didnt bother finishing it.so i wouldnt recommend this book

Recommended read, 22 Feb 2005
Following the Auschwitz anniversary, I decided to read a lot more about the holocaust than I knew. Survival in Auschwitz by primo Levi was one of the books I read and loved. I consider it to be one of the most well-written, touching and compelling memoirs about the holocaust. Promo Levi is an excellent writer, with deep, lucid and compelling prose and insightful writing style. This book is one of the most influential books of my life.

After reading this book, I can't imagine any person not honestly feeling for humanity, and becoming compassionate no matter what the circumstance is. This well-depicted book is a recommendation for those interested in the plight of mankind in wars and other man-made and natural disasters. Read it and you will rave and pass it on to your friends.

This is a well recommended Holocaust book along with DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,PERIODIC TABLE, NIGHT

horrific, huge, scary, what we can do to one another, 09 Mar 1999
please read this book. I have long studied WWII, no other work as so affected me to the extent of this book. Levi explains the ultimate horror. Imagine being stripped of everying, honor, clothing, self esteem. Self and worthiness. It is maddening. Levi produces a realistic, traumatic and horrifying portrait of what people went through not more than 54 years ago. Lest we repeat this lesson, it is important to listen to those like Levi. We all are capable of the ativistic characteristics of those we wish to distance ourselves from.

Disappointing, 15 Jul 2008
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none, it was in Auschwitz 1.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.

ochmister, 06 Jun 2008
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.

An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand., 16 May 2008
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.

You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.

During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.

At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.

Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.

There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.

The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.

Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.

The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.

The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.

Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.

As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.

This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.

Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.

His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.

As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.

A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.

If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.

Brings the Reality of what went on home !, 11 May 2008
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !

Gripping, 28 Apr 2008
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!

A startling journey indeed, 05 Nov 2008
In Journey by Moonlight, the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb has produced one of the most memorable novels I have read for some time. When I finished it, I turned back to think about what to write in this review and was immediately drawn back into whichever part of the story I landed in, beguiled by the quality of writing and the narrative pace. Ostensibly about the marriage between Mihály and Erzsi, it would be incorrect to describe this as merely a novel, for it is also a series of statements about existence, relationships and our place in the world.

Mihály and Erzsi are newlyweds and we join them on their honeymoon in Venice. We rapidly learn that Mihály is a vague, other-worldly man, who seems barely planted on the earth.

Even during the first week of the honeymoon he finds himself one night wandering the back streets of Venice for in a sort of dream, not returning to the hotel until dawn. At one point we read a beautifully ironic and sarcastic letter to Mihály from Erzsi's ex-husband Zoltan, giving him instructions on how to care for Erzsi and perfectly describing Mihály's character:

"If I were a woman, and had to choose between the two of us, I too would have chosen you without hesitiation and Erzi surely loves you for being just the sort of person you are - so utterly withdrawn and abstracted that you haven no real relationship with anybody or anything, like someone from another planet, a Martian on earth, someone who never really notices anything, . . . who never pays proper attention when others speak, who often seems to act out of vague goodwill and politeness as if playing at being human"

Erzsi soon realises that her marriage is based on the fiction that the two understand each other perfectly. However when Erzi starts to explain himself, the more confusing he becomes because he holds secrets even from himself, and fails to understand that people other than himself also have an inner life. The marriage is not going to last! But the way it soon ends is uniquely strange, and perhaps shows the shallowness of its foundations from the start.

The story then divides, following the courses of both Mihály and Erzsi as they go their separate ways. Erszi goes to Paris and lives with a girl-friend, meeting up again with Zoltan and various other unique characters. At one point she seems to be offered up to a wealthy Persian as part of a business transaction but manages to assert herself sufficiently to extricate herself and make her own choices after the disastrous second marriage.

Mihály on the other hand continues journeying through Italy, having a series of misfortunes along the way which reveal much about the flaws in his character. An other-worldly but self-regarding and self-indulgent personality, but also self-deceiving, with high ideals which he drops at the merest hint of inconvenience to himself.

It is the energetic writing style which marks this book out as special. The narrative pace is fast, but it is the insights into human existence along the way which make it sparkle. Antal Szerb has no illusions about his characters for all are deeply flawed.

Antal Szerb is a new discovery to me but one of the most valuable. No doubt my enjoyment of this book owes much to the excellent translation by Len Rix and his Afterword sets the book in a wider context and I am pleased to see that he agrees that irony, distinctively Middle-European in character operates on every level of this sophisticated and remarkable novel. Although Mihály's actions are reprehensible, somehow our sympathies are never quite alienated - "some principle at the core of his being calls to us".

Wholly involving, 04 Nov 2007
Mihály, the central character of this elegant and stylish novel (beautifully translated by Len Rix) seems to belong to the early continental 19th century rather than to inter-war Budapest. He is a man in his late thirties, a neurotic and Romantic character, unworldly, more at home in history than in the present, ill at ease in his bourgeois setting at home and equally ill at ease about being in his late thirties. He has a great nostalgia for the time when, as an adolescent schoolboy, he was the hanger-on of a group of unconventional young people: Tamás (who several times tried to commit suicide and eventually managed it); his sister Eva (whom Mihály adored); Ervin (another of Eva's admirers, a convert to Catholicism from Judaism); and János, a suave trickster.

The book opens twenty years later, when Mihály is on his honeymoon in Venice with his wife Erszi. Erszi had left her first husband to marry Mihály because he was `different'; he had seduced and then married her because he was trying to be `normal'. But she did not understand just how `different' he was, and he could not cope with marriage; and, besides, he is haunted by the memory of the now mysterious Eva. During a stop-over on a railway journey, Mihály makes the Freudian error of getting onto one train while Erszi is travelling on another. He is relieved to be on his own and that noone can find him. He travels from one Italian location to another - all beautifully and sometimes hauntingly described. I must not reveal the many strange, mysterious and coincidental events that happen to him; but in any case his thought processes are at least as central to the story as are the various events.

Meanwhile Erszi, unable to face her family in Budapest as a deserted wife, makes her way to Paris. There she, too, in her own way, turns against the respectable bourgeois life she has hitherto been leading. Again I must not elaborate; but the story is full of fascinating psychological twists and turns (though one of them, in an ancient chateau on a rainy night, does, I must admit, strike me as uncharacteristically grotesque and over the top - quite out of tune with the delicacy of the rest of the novel.)

The note of death is heard throughout the novel. As a youngster Mihály had to take part in the theatricals staged by Tamás and Eva which invariably involved death, with Mihály willingly playing the sacrificial victim. Later, there are suicides, cemeteries, Etruscan sarcophagi and the apparent Etruscan notion that "dying is an erotic art", which so resonates with Mihály and had done so for Tamás. Mihály hears a remarkable lecture on that subject from Professor Waldheim, one of his former class-mates whom he meets in Rome - and from that moment onwards Szerb plays some extraordinary games with his readers.

A subtle, rich and wonderful book.

A beautiful novel of discovery and escape from the world, 11 Jun 2007
This is one of the most absorbing books I have read this year - there was no way I could put it down until I got to the end of it. Peopled with unforgettable characters like every one of us, this is a tale of love, death, individuality, courage, and conforming. The main characters are on a honeymoon trip in Rome, where they talk about their past lives and the people that affected them. There comes a point where the past and present meet, when it is not possible for love or life to continue; each character must make a choice to decide his or her own fate. The language is beautiful and the whole novel has eerie, Gothic undertones as we follow characters to their death, to isolated houses and mountains where they make an attempt to escape from a common, ordinary world. The language flows beautifully and makes you think about your own life as if you were being swept along by a stream of wisdom. This was wonderful, touching and self-reflective...highly recommended.

a hidden classic.., 20 Dec 2006
having just finished this masterpiece of a novel, i am truly surprised that i had not heard of it before seeing it in my local charity shop. this beautiful story of a man not able to let go of his childhood captivated me and i couldn't put it down until i'd finished. i'd just love to learn hungarian so i could read the original and see whether it's even better!

Simply magical, 08 Oct 2004
With a subtle wit that allows the reader to be amused at the pretensions and foibles of the characters without making them unsympathetic or into just cyphers, Szerb tells the story of Mihaly and Erzsi and how their honeymoon unfolds. The novel is largely set in Italy and France, with flashbacks to the earlier life of Mihaly in Hungary which build into the picture of his character.
Journey by Moonlight is supposed to be a classic of Hungarian literature and I found that easy to understand from the English Translation by Len Rix. This novel and author deserve to be much more widely known.
The actual physical production of this volume by Pushkin Press is impressive with a sewn binding and very high quality paper used.

Buy 'If This Is A Man' Instead, 07 Jul 2008
A great work, but 'Survival in Auschwitz' is just the American name for 'If This Is A Man', which is published in Britain together with 'The Truce' in a single volume. Amazon has it, and it's better value as well as a better title.

One of the best Holocaust memoirs, 18 Sep 2007
There has been much great literature written by holocaust survivors, and this one is just about as good as any.

Primo Levi describes in "Survival in Auschwitz" the scheme by which those who could were able to maintain some sort of existance. Those unable to work are gassed, shot or beaten to death. Those who manage to survive are those who find ways to make themselves useful, without actual serioius exertion on the meagre rations. The lifeblood of the camp is "organising" - a black market where a stolen bar of soap is traded for a slice of bread; a potato for a scarf.

One difference between Levi and other Holocaust memoirs, is that he does not rely on an emotional appeal. He produces a trully excellent and insightful disposition of the the psychology of genocide. The emotional effects stems from Levis astute analysis, rather than being explicity given, an as such and as such are probably actually more effective.

It is a strange aspect of holocaust literatre, that in describing such terrible events they can engender such positive feelings in the reader. The way that those such as Levi can survive the horrors and somehow come out the other end as full human beings is inspiring to us all.








a hard read, 13 Sep 2006
this book was a below average read,iv read much better books than this onthe concentration camps.i found this book very hard to stay interested in and found alot of times my mind would wander off and get bored of this book so i didnt bother finishing it.so i wouldnt recommend this book

Recommended read, 22 Feb 2005
Following the Auschwitz anniversary, I decided to read a lot more about the holocaust than I knew. Survival in Auschwitz by primo Levi was one of the books I read and loved. I consider it to be one of the most well-written, touching and compelling memoirs about the holocaust. Promo Levi is an excellent writer, with deep, lucid and compelling prose and insightful writing style. This book is one of the most influential books of my life.

After reading this book, I can't imagine any person not honestly feeling for humanity, and becoming compassionate no matter what the circumstance is. This well-depicted book is a recommendation for those interested in the plight of mankind in wars and other man-made and natural disasters. Read it and you will rave and pass it on to your friends.

This is a well recommended Holocaust book along with DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,PERIODIC TABLE, NIGHT

horrific, huge, scary, what we can do to one another, 09 Mar 1999
please read this book. I have long studied WWII, no other work as so affected me to the extent of this book. Levi explains the ultimate horror. Imagine being stripped of everying, honor, clothing, self esteem. Self and worthiness. It is maddening. Levi produces a realistic, traumatic and horrifying portrait of what people went through not more than 54 years ago. Lest we repeat this lesson, it is important to listen to those like Levi. We all are capable of the ativistic characteristics of those we wish to distance ourselves from.

Cannot be bettered, 14 Jul 2008
I have an obsession with the history of the East End and Professor Fishman's book satisfies that craving wonderfully. He is a lifelong inhabitant of that part of London, it is his speciality, and there is no one who knows his subject more thoroughly. There is no better work on the Victorian East End.

Disappointing, 15 Jul 2008
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none, it was in Auschwitz 1.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.

ochmister, 06 Jun 2008
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.

An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand., 16 May 2008
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.

You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.

During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.

At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.

Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.

There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.

The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.

Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.

The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.

The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.

Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.

As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.

This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.

Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.

His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.

As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.

A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.

If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.

Brings the Reality of what went on home !, 11 May 2008
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !

Gripping, 28 Apr 2008
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!

A startling journey indeed, 05 Nov 2008
In Journey by Moonlight, the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb has produced one of the most memorable novels I have read for some time. When I finished it, I turned back to think about what to write in this review and was immediately drawn back into whichever part of the story I landed in, beguiled by the quality of writing and the narrative pace. Ostensibly about the marriage between Mihály and Erzsi, it would be incorrect to describe this as merely a novel, for it is also a series of statements about existence, relationships and our place in the world.

Mihály and Erzsi are newlyweds and we join them on their honeymoon in Venice. We rapidly learn that Mihály is a vague, other-worldly man, who seems barely planted on the earth.

Even during the first week of the honeymoon he finds himself one night wandering the back streets of Venice for in a sort of dream, not returning to the hotel until dawn. At one point we read a beautifully ironic and sarcastic letter to Mihály from Erzsi's ex-husband Zoltan, giving him instructions on how to care for Erzsi and perfectly describing Mihály's character:

"If I were a woman, and had to choose between the two of us, I too would have chosen you without hesitiation and Erzi surely loves you for being just the sort of person you are - so utterly withdrawn and abstracted that you haven no real relationship with anybody or anything, like someone from another planet, a Martian on earth, someone who never really notices anything, . . . who never pays proper attention when others speak, who often seems to act out of vague goodwill and politeness as if playing at being human"

Erzsi soon realises that her marriage is based on the fiction that the two understand each other perfectly. However when Erzi starts to explain himself, the more confusing he becomes because he holds secrets even from himself, and fails to understand that people other than himself also have an inner life. The marriage is not going to last! But the way it soon ends is uniquely strange, and perhaps shows the shallowness of its foundations from the start.

The story then divides, following the courses of both Mihály and Erzsi as they go their separate ways. Erszi goes to Paris and lives with a girl-friend, meeting up again with Zoltan and various other unique characters. At one point she seems to be offered up to a wealthy Persian as part of a business transaction but manages to assert herself sufficiently to extricate herself and make her own choices after the disastrous second marriage.

Mihály on the other hand continues journeying through Italy, having a series of misfortunes along the way which reveal much about the flaws in his character. An other-worldly but self-regarding and self-indulgent personality, but also self-deceiving, with high ideals which he drops at the merest hint of inconvenience to himself.

It is the energetic writing style which marks this book out as special. The narrative pace is fast, but it is the insights into human existence along the way which make it sparkle. Antal Szerb has no illusions about his characters for all are deeply flawed.

Antal Szerb is a new discovery to me but one of the most valuable. No doubt my enjoyment of this book owes much to the excellent translation by Len Rix and his Afterword sets the book in a wider context and I am pleased to see that he agrees that irony, distinctively Middle-European in character operates on every level of this sophisticated and remarkable novel. Although Mihály's actions are reprehensible, somehow our sympathies are never quite alienated - "some principle at the core of his being calls to us".

Wholly involving, 04 Nov 2007
Mihály, the central character of this elegant and stylish novel (beautifully translated by Len Rix) seems to belong to the early continental 19th century rather than to inter-war Budapest. He is a man in his late thirties, a neurotic and Romantic character, unworldly, more at home in history than in the present, ill at ease in his bourgeois setting at home and equally ill at ease about being in his late thirties. He has a great nostalgia for the time when, as an adolescent schoolboy, he was the hanger-on of a group of unconventional young people: Tamás (who several times tried to commit suicide and eventually managed it); his sister Eva (whom Mihály adored); Ervin (another of Eva's admirers, a convert to Catholicism from Judaism); and János, a suave trickster.

The book opens twenty years later, when Mihály is on his honeymoon in Venice with his wife Erszi. Erszi had left her first husband to marry Mihály because he was `different'; he had seduced and then married her because he was trying to be `normal'. But she did not understand just how `different' he was, and he could not cope with marriage; and, besides, he is haunted by the memory of the now mysterious Eva. During a stop-over on a railway journey, Mihály makes the Freudian error of getting onto one train while Erszi is travelling on another. He is relieved to be on his own and that noone can find him. He travels from one Italian location to another - all beautifully and sometimes hauntingly described. I must not reveal the many strange, mysterious and coincidental events that happen to him; but in any case his thought processes are at least as central to the story as are the various events.

Meanwhile Erszi, unable to face her family in Budapest as a deserted wife, makes her way to Paris. There she, too, in her own way, turns against the respectable bourgeois life she has hitherto been leading. Again I must not elaborate; but the story is full of fascinating psychological twists and turns (though one of them, in an ancient chateau on a rainy night, does, I must admit, strike me as uncharacteristically grotesque and over the top - quite out of tune with the delicacy of the rest of the novel.)

The note of death is heard throughout the novel. As a youngster Mihály had to take part in the theatricals staged by Tamás and Eva which invariably involved death, with Mihály willingly playing the sacrificial victim. Later, there are suicides, cemeteries, Etruscan sarcophagi and the apparent Etruscan notion that "dying is an erotic art", which so resonates with Mihály and had done so for Tamás. Mihály hears a remarkable lecture on that subject from Professor Waldheim, one of his former class-mates whom he meets in Rome - and from that moment onwards Szerb plays some extraordinary games with his readers.

A subtle, rich and wonderful book.

A beautiful novel of discovery and escape from the world, 11 Jun 2007
This is one of the most absorbing books I have read this year - there was no way I could put it down until I got to the end of it. Peopled with unforgettable characters like every one of us, this is a tale of love, death, individuality, courage, and conforming. The main characters are on a honeymoon trip in Rome, where they talk about their past lives and the people that affected them. There comes a point where the past and present meet, when it is not possible for love or life to continue; each character must make a choice to decide his or her own fate. The language is beautiful and the whole novel has eerie, Gothic undertones as we follow characters to their death, to isolated houses and mountains where they make an attempt to escape from a common, ordinary world. The language flows beautifully and makes you think about your own life as if you were being swept along by a stream of wisdom. This was wonderful, touching and self-reflective...highly recommended.

a hidden classic.., 20 Dec 2006
having just finished this masterpiece of a novel, i am truly surprised that i had not heard of it before seeing it in my local charity shop. this beautiful story of a man not able to let go of his childhood captivated me and i couldn't put it down until i'd finished. i'd just love to learn hungarian so i could read the original and see whether it's even better!

Simply magical, 08 Oct 2004
With a subtle wit that allows the reader to be amused at the pretensions and foibles of the characters without making them unsympathetic or into just cyphers, Szerb tells the story of Mihaly and Erzsi and how their honeymoon unfolds. The novel is largely set in Italy and France, with flashbacks to the earlier life of Mihaly in Hungary which build into the picture of his character.
Journey by Moonlight is supposed to be a classic of Hungarian literature and I found that easy to understand from the English Translation by Len Rix. This novel and author deserve to be much more widely known.
The actual physical production of this volume by Pushkin Press is impressive with a sewn binding and very high quality paper used.

Buy 'If This Is A Man' Instead, 07 Jul 2008
A great work, but 'Survival in Auschwitz' is just the American name for 'If This Is A Man', which is published in Britain together with 'The Truce' in a single volume. Amazon has it, and it's better value as well as a better title.

One of the best Holocaust memoirs, 18 Sep 2007
There has been much great literature written by holocaust survivors, and this one is just about as good as any.

Primo Levi describes in "Survival in Auschwitz" the scheme by which those who could were able to maintain some sort of existance. Those unable to work are gassed, shot or beaten to death. Those who manage to survive are those who find ways to make themselves useful, without actual serioius exertion on the meagre rations. The lifeblood of the camp is "organising" - a black market where a stolen bar of soap is traded for a slice of bread; a potato for a scarf.

One difference between Levi and other Holocaust memoirs, is that he does not rely on an emotional appeal. He produces a trully excellent and insightful disposition of the the psychology of genocide. The emotional effects stems from Levis astute analysis, rather than being explicity given, an as such and as such are probably actually more effective.

It is a strange aspect of holocaust literatre, that in describing such terrible events they can engender such positive feelings in the reader. The way that those such as Levi can survive the horrors and somehow come out the other end as full human beings is inspiring to us all.








a hard read, 13 Sep 2006
this book was a below average read,iv read much better books than this onthe concentration camps.i found this book very hard to stay interested in and found alot of times my mind would wander off and get bored of this book so i didnt bother finishing it.so i wouldnt recommend this book

Recommended read, 22 Feb 2005
Following the Auschwitz anniversary, I decided to read a lot more about the holocaust than I knew. Survival in Auschwitz by primo Levi was one of the books I read and loved. I consider it to be one of the most well-written, touching and compelling memoirs about the holocaust. Promo Levi is an excellent writer, with deep, lucid and compelling prose and insightful writing style. This book is one of the most influential books of my life.

After reading this book, I can't imagine any person not honestly feeling for humanity, and becoming compassionate no matter what the circumstance is. This well-depicted book is a recommendation for those interested in the plight of mankind in wars and other man-made and natural disasters. Read it and you will rave and pass it on to your friends.

This is a well recommended Holocaust book along with DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,PERIODIC TABLE, NIGHT

horrific, huge, scary, what we can do to one another, 09 Mar 1999
please read this book. I have long studied WWII, no other work as so affected me to the extent of this book. Levi explains the ultimate horror. Imagine being stripped of everying, honor, clothing, self esteem. Self and worthiness. It is maddening. Levi produces a realistic, traumatic and horrifying portrait of what people went through not more than 54 years ago. Lest we repeat this lesson, it is important to listen to those like Levi. We all are capable of the ativistic characteristics of those we wish to distance ourselves from.

Cannot be bettered, 14 Jul 2008
I have an obsession with the history of the East End and Professor Fishman's book satisfies that craving wonderfully. He is a lifelong inhabitant of that part of London, it is his speciality, and there is no one who knows his subject more thoroughly. There is no better work on the Victorian East End.

An accessible classic, 02 May 2008
Having gone through the state education system, I came out of school completely uneducated about things like history and classic literature and I've been trying to rectify this omission for many years. This has resulted in me reading a lot of the classics line, and something I've realised is what hard work many of them are. As times change, so do writing styles and ideas of what makes a narrative work, and to the modern reader many books written hundreds of years past can be a challenging read.
This is why Josephus is such a pleasure. For all that we are separated from him by almost two thousand years, his humanity shines through. His history of the Jewish war against the Romans in the late 1st century AD is very much a history of his own activities therein, and what an unashamedly self-serving document it is. Originally a regional commander in the rebellious jewish army, Josephus wrote his history after his capture by the Romans and defection to their side (he became a Roman citizen and a courtier to more than one emperor). By turns witty, outrageously immodest and deceitful, Josephus wrote a hagiography of himself and his roman patrons and a tremendously enjoyable read it is too. By humanising his narrative, he also succeeds in making it accessible.

We have so few records of the ancient world it is impossible to be absolutely certain how accurate any given historical document is. However, as well as being enjoyable, the archaelogical and historical record suggests that when Josephus talks about the facts of the war (who won and fought who, where and when) he can be trusted in the broad sweep if not in the details.
It's a fascinating and human insight into the ancient world which shows that people, wherever and whenever they lived, are just as human - and as worried about their reputations - as are we.

Good translation, but referencing could be improved, 01 May 2004
As a translation of classical literature, the Penguin edition serves as a useful companion to any student of Josephus, or of the period of Roman control over Israel in the first pre-Christian and post-Christian centuries. It is the cheaper alternative to the expensive Loeb translation.

However, since most scholarship tends to use the Loeb referencing system, it would be useful if the Penguin edition has better cross-refencing with this system. This would make it far easier for the student to find the approriate passage in the Penguin, given a Loeb citation.

Disappointing, 15 Jul 2008
Truly the worst holocaust testimony ever written.So many mistakes throughout the whole text.Two examples of which were when Mr Muller mentions the camp orchestra in Birkenau,there was none, it was in Auschwitz 1.He also quotes that Kramer was in Birkenau and had came from Auschwitz 2.Both are one and the same place But important errors like these were repeated in every chapter and the worry for me is that Holocaust deniers may pick up on these simple blunders.Mr Mullers over use of adjectives and repetition of statements at times resulted in the book bordering on being boring.It read more like a students written essay who wasnt fully informed ,rather than an actual Holocaust survivors memoirs.Ive read many more imformative Holocaust testimonies and even Mr Muller must have been disappointed with the finished article.I tend to believe that the foreword said it all.

ochmister, 06 Jun 2008
Simple, one of the best books I have ever read. Very sad, sometimes un believable. But believe, this really happened and should not be forgotton. My respect goes to the author.

An account by somebody who witnessed everything first hand., 16 May 2008
There have been countless books written about Hitlers Final solution mostly by historians and occasionally by eyewitness survivors.

You can read account after account of conditions in the final months leading to the Russians eventual entry into the camp but few books will be as informative as this one written by camp Sonderkommando Filip Muller whose actual job was to operate the crematoria and dispose of the thousands of corpses.

During the latter half of 1944 an incredible 10,000+ were liquidated on a daily basis.This may appear too far fetched to comprehend at first but when you realise that those in command from Hitler right down to Himmlers eventual realisation that the war was turning against them a dramatic escelation in gassing took place until mass shootings were the norm and corpses were burnt round the clock in open pits.

At the height of the liquidation Berkenhau had over ten ovens working night and day resulting in a massive escalation of gassings.In early 1944,10,000 prisoners were murdered every day and there were sufficient ovens to cope with the huge number of bodies.

Filip was there as all this was going on and later as the mass of bodies became too overwhelming to cope with it was the Sonderkommandos duty to remove the rotting corpses for disposal in the ovens.

There are certain passages that will really make one think momentarily on the question of mans inhumanity towards his fellow man.

The arrival and first trial of mass gassings where under extream brutality men women and children were forced to undress knowingly they were facing certain death.

Possibly the most heart rending extracts are to be found on page 48 where Filip having discovered the arrival of his father at the camp has to cremate his body after his death from tythus.Fellow workmen working alongside him at the blazing ovens recite a prayer.

The book really brings the true barbarity of camp life to the reader.

The inhumanity of certain Kapos or team leaders given trusted duties by the SS who were extreamly sadistic beating fellow prisoners to death due to anger against what the SS were doing to their fellow countrymen.

Whilst reading the first two chapters one clearly realises these are the genuine testimony of somebody who lived on a daily basis where systematic murder was common place.Unless you witnessed at first hand you couldnot make up such testimony such as these.

As i have already said you can write about this highly documented period in history but unless you were physically there in person to witness these events no amount of research will reveal the actual truth.

This is why Filip Mullers book is so important,as less than a handfull of Sonderkommandos at Auschwitz actually lived to bear witness to their testimony.Every few months new Sonderkommandos were appointed whilst those working at the cremetoria were gassed with other prisoners so that the truth of Genocide was never allowed to escape.Filips survival is the more amazing in that he survived and bared witness to the atrocities.

Unless you were actually there in person you cannot envisage the horrors and brutality of camp guards and SS officers.Muller recounts day to day life within the confines of Auschwitz-Berkenhau like only a fellow prisoner could relate.

His matter of fact account of unimaginable horrors makes compelling reading if not unpleasant reading.He has not withheld any of the material that will disgust or distress us,everything has been accounted for right up to his amazing survival.

As a Sonderkommando he was to some extent safe as his services were of great importance to the camps efficient running.Without him and other workers the mass murder couldnot have taken place at such a large scale.

A book that is extreamly well written by somebody who actually knows what went on within the camp.Few books can bring home the true meaning of genocide as can this one.

If you are looking for great detail on events and life within Hitlers largest death camp then this book will not disappoint.

Brings the Reality of what went on home !, 11 May 2008
I visited Auschwitz earlier this year. I wish I had read this book before I had gone as it really brought home the terrible crimes that went on in this place. If you are interested in Auschwitz then this is a must read !

Gripping, 28 Apr 2008
What an amazing account of the holocaust and believe me I have read a few!
This book gives a gripping account of one mans survival in the death factory that can only be described as hell on earth.
The author is a testimony to courage and mans desire to stay alive at all costs.
Buy this now!

A startling journey indeed, 05 Nov 2008
In Journey by Moonlight, the Hungarian writer Antal Szerb has produced one of the most memorable novels I have read for some time. When I finished it, I turned back to think about what to write in this review and was immediately drawn back into whichever part of the story I landed in, beguiled by the quality of writing and the narrative pace. Ostensibly about the marriage between Mihály and Erzsi, it would be incorrect to describe this as merely a novel, for it is also a series of statements about existence, relationships and our place in the world.

Mihály and Erzsi are newlyweds and we join them on their honeymoon in Venice. We rapidly learn that Mihály is a vague, other-worldly man, who seems barely planted on the earth.

Even during the first week of the honeymoon he finds himself one night wandering the back streets of Venice for in a sort of dream, not returning to the hotel until dawn. At one point we read a beautifully ironic and sarcastic letter to Mihály from Erzsi's ex-husband Zoltan, giving him instructions on how to care for Erzsi and perfectly describing Mihály's character:

"If I were a woman, and had to choose between the two of us, I too would have chosen you without hesitiation and Erzi surely loves you for being just the sort of person you are - so utterly withdrawn and abstracted that you haven no real relationship with anybody or anything, like someone from another planet, a Martian on earth, someone who never really notices anything, . . . who never pays proper attention when others speak, who often seems to act out of vague goodwill and politeness as if playing at being human"

Erzsi soon realises that her marriage is based on the fiction that the two understand each other perfectly. However when Erzi starts to explain himself, the more confusing he becomes because he holds secrets even from himself, and fails to understand that people other than himself also have an inner life. The marriage is not going to last! But the way it soon ends is uniquely strange, and perhaps shows the shallowness of its foundations from the start.

The story then divides, following the courses of both Mihály and Erzsi as they go their separate ways. Erszi goes to Paris and lives with a girl-friend, meeting up again with Zoltan and various other unique characters. At one point she seems to be offered up to a wealthy Persian as part of a business transaction but manages to assert herself sufficiently to extricate herself and make her own choices after the disastrous second marriage.

Mihály on the other hand continues journeying through Italy, having a series of misfortunes along the way which reveal much about the flaws in his character. An other-worldly but self-regarding and self-indulgent personality, but also self-deceiving, with high ideals which he drops at the merest hint of inconvenience to himself.

It is the energetic writing style which marks this book out as special. The narrative pace is fast, but it is the insights into human existence along the way which make it sparkle. Antal Szerb has no illusions about his characters for all are deeply flawed.

Antal Szerb is a new discovery to me but one of the most valuable. No doubt my enjoyment of this book owes much to the excellent translation by Len Rix and his Afterword sets the book in a wider context and I am pleased to see that he agrees that irony, distinctively Middle-European in character operates on every level of this sophisticated and remarkable novel. Although Mihály's actions are reprehensible, somehow our sympathies are never quite alienated - "some principle at the core of his being calls to us".

Wholly involving, 04 Nov 2007
Mihály, the central character of this elegant and stylish novel (beautifully translated by Len Rix) seems to belong to the early continental 19th century rather than to inter-war Budapest. He is a man in his late thirties, a neurotic and Romantic character, unworldly, more at home in history than in the present, ill at ease in his bourgeois setting at home and equally ill at ease about being in his late thirties. He has a great nostalgia for the time when, as an adolescent schoolboy, he was the hanger-on of a group of unconventional young people: Tamás (who several times tried to commit suicide and eventually managed it); his sister Eva (whom Mihály adored); Ervin (another of Eva's admirers, a convert to Catholicism from Judaism); and János, a suave trickster.

The book opens twenty years later, when Mihály is on his honeymoon in Venice with his wife Erszi. Erszi had left her first husband to marry Mihály because he was `different'; he had seduced and then married her because he was trying to be `normal'. But she did not understand just how `different' he was, and he could not cope with marriage; and, besides, he is haunted by the memory of the now mysterious Eva. During a stop-over on a railway journey, Mihály makes the Freudian error of getting onto one train while Erszi is travelling on another. He is relieved to be on his own and that noone can find him. He travels from one Italian location to another - all beautifully and sometimes hauntingly described. I must not reveal the many strange, mysterious and coincidental events that happen to him; but in any case his thought processes are at least as central to the story as are the various events.

Meanwhile Erszi, unable to face her family in Budapest as a deserted wife, makes her way to Paris. There she, too, in her own way, turns against the respectable bourgeois life she has hitherto been leading. Again I must not elaborate; but the story is full of fascinating psychological twists and turns (though one of them, in an ancient chateau on a rainy night, does, I must admit, strike me as uncharacteristically grotesque and over the top - quite out of tune with the delicacy of the rest of the novel.)

The note of death is heard throughout the novel. As a youngster Mihály had to take part in the theatricals staged by Tamás and Eva which invariably involved death, with Mihály willingly playing the sacrificial victim. Later, there are suicides, cemeteries, Etruscan sarcophagi and the apparent Etruscan notion that "dying is an erotic art", which so resonates with Mihály and had done so for Tamás. Mihály hears a remarkable lecture on that subject from Professor Waldheim, one of his former class-mates whom he meets in Rome - and from that moment onwards Szerb plays some extraordinary games with his readers.

A subtle, rich and wonderful book.

A beautiful novel of discovery and escape from the world, 11 Jun 2007
This is one of the most absorbing books I have read this year - there was no way I could put it down until I got to the end of it. Peopled with unforgettable characters like every one of us, this is a tale of love, death, individuality, courage, and conforming. The main characters are on a honeymoon trip in Rome, where they talk about their past lives and the people that affected them. There comes a point where the past and present meet, when it is not possible for love or life to continue; each character must make a choice to decide his or her own fate. The language is beautiful and the whole novel has eerie, Gothic undertones as we follow characters to their death, to isolated houses and mountains where they make an attempt to escape from a common, ordinary world. The language flows beautifully and makes you think about your own life as if you were being swept along by a stream of wisdom. This was wonderful, touching and self-reflective...highly recommended.

a hidden classic.., 20 Dec 2006
having just finished this masterpiece of a novel, i am truly surprised that i had not heard of it before seeing it in my local charity shop. this beautiful story of a man not able to let go of his childhood captivated me and i couldn't put it down until i'd finished. i'd just love to learn hungarian so i could read the original and see whether it's even better!

Simply magical, 08 Oct 2004
With a subtle wit that allows the reader to be amused at the pretensions and foibles of the characters without making them unsympathetic or into just cyphers, Szerb tells the story of Mihaly and Erzsi and how their honeymoon unfolds. The novel is largely set in Italy and France, with flashbacks to the earlier life of Mihaly in Hungary which build into the picture of his character.
Journey by Moonlight is supposed to be a classic of Hungarian literature and I found that easy to understand from the English Translation by Len Rix. This novel and author deserve to be much more widely known.
The actual physical production of this volume by Pushkin Press is impressive with a sewn binding and very high quality paper used.

Buy 'If This Is A Man' Instead, 07 Jul 2008
A great work, but 'Survival in Auschwitz' is just the American name for 'If This Is A Man', which is published in Britain together with 'The Truce' in a single volume. Amazon has it, and it's better value as well as a better title.

One of the best Holocaust memoirs, 18 Sep 2007
There has been much great literature written by holocaust survivors, and this one is just about as good as any.

Primo Levi describes in "Survival in Auschwitz" the scheme by which those who could were able to maintain some sort of existance. Those unable to work are gassed, shot or beaten to death. Those who manage to survive are those who find ways to make themselves useful, without actual serioius exertion on the meagre rations. The lifeblood of the camp is "organising" - a black market where a stolen bar of soap is traded for a slice of bread; a potato for a scarf.

One difference between Levi and other Holocaust memoirs, is that he does not rely on an emotional appeal. He produces a trully excellent and insightful disposition of the the psychology of genocide. The emotional effects stems from Levis astute analysis, rather than being explicity given, an as such and as such are probably actually more effective.

It is a strange aspect of holocaust literatre, that in describing such terrible events they can engender such positive feelings in the reader. The way that those such as Levi can survive the horrors and somehow come out the other end as full human beings is inspiring to us all.








a hard read, 13 Sep 2006
this book was a below average read,iv read much better books than this onthe concentration camps.i found this book very hard to stay interested in and found alot of times my mind would wander off and get bored of this book so i didnt bother finishing it.so i wouldnt recommend this book

Recommended read, 22 Feb 2005
Following the Auschwitz anniversary, I decided to read a lot more about the holocaust than I knew. Survival in Auschwitz by primo Levi was one of the books I read and loved. I consider it to be one of the most well-written, touching and compelling memoirs about the holocaust. Promo Levi is an excellent writer, with deep, lucid and compelling prose and insightful writing style. This book is one of the most influential books of my life.

After reading this book, I can't imagine any person not honestly feeling for humanity, and becoming compassionate no matter what the circumstance is. This well-depicted book is a recommendation for those interested in the plight of mankind in wars and other man-made and natural disasters. Read it and you will rave and pass it on to your friends.

This is a well recommended Holocaust book along with DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,PERIODIC TABLE, NIGHT

horrific, huge, scary, what we can do to one another, 09 Mar 1999
please read this book. I have long studied WWII, no other work as so affected me to the extent of this book. Levi explains the ultimate horror. Imagine being stripped of everying, honor, clothing, self esteem. Self and worthiness. It is maddening. Levi produces a realistic, traumatic and horrifying portrait of what people went through not more than 54 years ago. Lest we repeat this lesson, it is important to listen to those like Levi. We all are capable of the ativistic characteristics of those we wish to distance ourselves from.

Cannot be bettered, 14 Jul 2008
I have an obsession with the history of the East End and Professor Fishman's book satisfies that craving wonderfully. He is a lifelong inhabitant of that part of London, it is his speciality, and there is no one who knows his subject more thoroughly. There is no better work on the Victorian East End.

An accessible classic, 02 May 2008
Having gone through the state education system, I came out of school completely uneducated about things like history and classic literature and I've been trying to rectify this omission for many years. This has resulted in me reading a lot of the classics line, and something I've realised is what hard work many of them are. As times change, so do writing styles and ideas of what makes a narrative work, and to the modern reader many books written hundreds of years past can be a challenging read.
This is why Josephus is such a pleasure. For all that we are separated from him by almost two thousand years, his humanity shines through. His history of the Jewish war against the Romans in the late 1st century AD is very much a history of his own activities therein, and what an unashamedly self-serving document it is. Originally a regional commander in the rebellious jewish army, Josephus wrote his history after his capture by the Romans and defection to their side (he became a Roman citizen and a courtier to more than one emperor). By turns witty, outrageously immodest and deceitful, Josephus wrote a hagiography of himself and his roman patrons and a tremendously enjoyable read it is too. By humanising his narrative, he also succeeds in making it accessible.

We have so few records of the ancient world it is impossible to be absolutely certain how accurate any given historical document is. However, as well as being enjoyable, the archaelogical and historical record suggests that when Josephus talks about the facts of the war (who won and fought who, where and when) he can be trusted in the broad sweep if not in the details.
It's a fascinating and human insight into the ancient world which shows that people, wherever and whenever they lived, are just as human - and as worried about their reputations - as are we.

Good translation, but referencing could be improved, 01 May 2004
As a translation of classical literature, the Penguin edition serves as a useful companion to any student of Josephus, or of the period of Roman control over Israel in the first pre-Christian and post-Christian centuries. It is the cheaper alternative to the expensive Loeb translation.

However, since most scholarship tends to use the Loeb referencing system, it would be useful if the Penguin edition has better cross-refencing with this system. This would make it far easier for the student to find the approriate passage in the Penguin, given a Loeb citation.

Time to fight back</