Fall of a Sparrow

Dina Porat, Professor of modern Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, is head of the Stephen Roth Institute and holds the Alfred P. Slaner Chair for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism. Her most recent book in English is Israeli Society, the Holocaust, and Its Survivors (2007).

"Dina Porat has written a superb book, certainly one of the most important works of modern Jewish history to have appeared in recent years. The scope of her achievement is all the more convincing given the fact that she chose a very difficult subject for a biography . . . Porat's book serves as a reminder that sometimes individuals do not have to wield power in order to inspire and to serve as moral lodestones."—Samuel Kassow, Studies in Contemporary Jewry "Porat is at once biographer and historian, with a vision at times microscopic, probing Kovner's inner world, at times telescopic, surveying the larger world that he inhabited and also shaped. Now that it is available in Elizabeth Yuval's translation, Porat's book is for English-speaking readers the most important point of entry into Kovner's world."—Edward Alexander, Chicago Jewish Star "This books is an excellent and reliable account not only of a major activist and author but also of a vital phase in Jewish history . . . What Porat has managed to achieve is the assured positioning of Kovner in the pantheon of Israel's heroes."—Leon Yudkin, H-Net Reviews "Abba Kovner's life story encompasses many of the central themes of twentieth-century Jewish history. Dina Porat's exhaustively-researched and exquisitely-written biography of this partisan leader, poet, and shaper of Israeli perceptions of the Jewish past opens new vistas onto the Holocaust and the political, military, and cultural history of the State of Israel."—David Engel, New York University

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART ICONCEPTION AND PREPARATION1. Lublin, January–March 1945 The Idea of Vengeance2. Bucharest, March–June 1945 From Conception to Preparation3. Italy, July–August 1945 The Jewish BrigadePART IIATTEMPTED VENGEANCE4. Palestine and Europe, August 1945–March 1946 Kovner and the Yishuv5. Paris, February–June 1946 The Haganah and the Avengers6. Germany, August 1945–June 1946 Life Apart from LifeConclusionAPPENDIXESChronologyList of the AvengersNotesSourcesIndex