Scattered Ghosts

One Family's Survival through War, Holocaust and Revolution

Nonfiction, History, Jewish, Modern, 20th Century
Cover of the book Scattered Ghosts by Nick Barlay, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Nick Barlay ISBN: 9780857734570
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: October 17, 2013
Imprint: I.B. Tauris Language: English
Author: Nick Barlay
ISBN: 9780857734570
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: October 17, 2013
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Language: English

When two Hungarian Jewish refugees landed by accident in Britain in the winter of 1956, they had little idea what the future would hold. But they carried with them the traces of their turbulent past, just enough to provide the clues to their past. Scattered Ghosts combines memoir, investigation and travel to resurrect 200 years of wars and revolutions, from the Austro-Hungarian Empire via two totalitarianisms to contemporary Britain. It is the story of an all but disappeared world told through the eyes of a single family ruptured by great forces, and occasionally brought together by cherry strudel.

Through haphazard and fragmented possessions - a blunt-pencilled letter; a final photograph; a hastily typed certificate; a protecting document; a farewell postcard from a distant place; a recipe - Nick Barlay retraces the footsteps of the vanished. There is the death march of a grandfather, the military manoeuvres of a great uncle, the final weeks and moments of a great grandmother deported to Auschwitz, two boys' survival of an untold massacre, and codenamed spies operating in Cold War Britain. The ordinary mysteries and emotional legacies still resonate today in the parallel lives of far-flung family members. Diaspora, division and cultural identity form the backdrop to the story of ancestors who walked barefoot from Eastern Europe to experience Communism and Nazism, and to outlive them both.

Scattered Ghosts is a family history that explores the events, great and small, on which a family's existence hinges. How did one person survive and another die? How did a Soviet tank shell cause a revolution between sisters? How did two refugees escape an invading army? Where did successive generations end up? And, ultimately, where did the recipe for cherry strudel come from?

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

When two Hungarian Jewish refugees landed by accident in Britain in the winter of 1956, they had little idea what the future would hold. But they carried with them the traces of their turbulent past, just enough to provide the clues to their past. Scattered Ghosts combines memoir, investigation and travel to resurrect 200 years of wars and revolutions, from the Austro-Hungarian Empire via two totalitarianisms to contemporary Britain. It is the story of an all but disappeared world told through the eyes of a single family ruptured by great forces, and occasionally brought together by cherry strudel.

Through haphazard and fragmented possessions - a blunt-pencilled letter; a final photograph; a hastily typed certificate; a protecting document; a farewell postcard from a distant place; a recipe - Nick Barlay retraces the footsteps of the vanished. There is the death march of a grandfather, the military manoeuvres of a great uncle, the final weeks and moments of a great grandmother deported to Auschwitz, two boys' survival of an untold massacre, and codenamed spies operating in Cold War Britain. The ordinary mysteries and emotional legacies still resonate today in the parallel lives of far-flung family members. Diaspora, division and cultural identity form the backdrop to the story of ancestors who walked barefoot from Eastern Europe to experience Communism and Nazism, and to outlive them both.

Scattered Ghosts is a family history that explores the events, great and small, on which a family's existence hinges. How did one person survive and another die? How did a Soviet tank shell cause a revolution between sisters? How did two refugees escape an invading army? Where did successive generations end up? And, ultimately, where did the recipe for cherry strudel come from?

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book 352nd Fighter Group by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book After Obsession by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book Crisis Among the Great Powers by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book The Business Affairs of Mr Julius Caesar by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book The International Court of Justice by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book A Good Disruption by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book The Adlard Coles Book of Navigation by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book The Christian Experience by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book A Hermit's Cookbook by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book A Question of Worth by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book Task-Based Language Learning in a Real-World Digital Environment by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book Jean-Jacques Rousseau by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book Jim Henson's Enchanted Sisters: Autumn's Secret Gift by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book Paris, He Said by Nick Barlay
Cover of the book Blood by Nick Barlay
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy