H. Stuart Hughes (1916–1999) was Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of California, San Diego.

The years between 1924 and 1974 may indeed have been a silver age for the Italian Jews, but for Italian prose literature the age was golden. This distinguished book, which combines the expert skills of a seasoned historian with the understanding of a literary critic steeped in the language and literature of his subject, offers a challenging interpretation to those who already know these writers, and will serve as a masterly introduction for those whom it will inspire to make their acquaintance.

• 1. The Most Ancient of Minorities 2. Exercises in Futility: Trieste and Rome The Redeemed and the Eternal City Italo Svevo's "Discomfort": Premature Aging and Belated Fame Alberto Moravia's World-Weary Adolescents 3. Two Captives Called Levi Fascism and Italian Jewry The Physician. Painter Don Carlo: Exile and Wonder-Worker The Chemist Primo: "Poet" of the Concentration Camp "Prisoners of Hope" 4. The Moment of Recollection: Turin The Testimony of Four Memoirists Natalia Ginzburg: The Painful Apprenticeship Natalia Ginzburg: The Arrival and the Departure of the Jews 5. The Moment of Recollection: Ferrara The Incomparable Walled City Giorgio Bassani: To the Paradise Garden Giorgio Bassani: The Splendor of Death The Cycle Closed 6. The Meanings of "Survival" Notes Index